


Those of Many Faces

by Alaena_F_Dragonstar



Series: Farseeing Eyes Universe [2]
Category: Magic Kaito, Naruto, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fusion, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-08-29 18:26:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8500468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alaena_F_Dragonstar/pseuds/Alaena_F_Dragonstar
Summary: Shinichi's parents disappeared years ago, leaving him to wonder why. However, when a woman returns to the village without her squad only to die with their names on her lips, he finds himself wondering if he really wants to know. KaitoxShinichi





	1. Whisper

When the messenger arrived that morning under the pale, predawn light to bang on the door with all the force of a man prepared to knock it down, Shinichi had thrown on a coat and opened the door only to have to duck as the messenger went to continue knocking on his face. Pulling his hand back, the messenger apologized hurriedly before informing him that they had urgent need of a medic at the guard post nearest his house.

"I know you're not on duty right now but you're the closest and—"

"Lead the way," he cut in, stepping all the way out and shutting the door behind himself. The early morning air outside was slightly damp with mist which hung in eerily still shreds over the village's packed, dirt streets. The occasional face peered curiously out of a partially open window as people came to see what the pounding noise had been about, but otherwise Konoha might as well have been deserted.

The patient lay sprawled on the grass mere yards from the guard post. No one had dared move her for fear of agitating her already severe wounds, but one of the guards, who'd had a little more medical knowledge, knelt beside her, carefully attempting to patch up the worst of her injuries. Shinichi shoved his way past the loose ring of worried guards to drop to his knees on the bloody grass beside her, his hands already at work checking her vital signs and examining her wounds.

He knew immediately that it was already too late. The wounds were far too numerous and deep and the woman had lost far too much blood already. But he could at least ease her passing.

Fighting back that terrible, cold feeling that crept up inside him every time he was faced with a patient he couldn't save, he ran through the hand seals for a technique that would temporarily numb her to the pain. He could feel the guard who'd been trying to bandage her wounds slump as he too realized that there was no hope.

"What happened?" Shinichi asked quietly, glancing up at the ring of solemn faces all around him. They shuffled a bit, trading uncertain looks, but it was a rasping voice from near his knee that answered. Startled, he looked down into a rapidly clouding gray eye.

"K…sak…"

Biting back the urge to tell the woman not to strain herself, Shinichi leaned down closer to her face. The least he could do for her now was hear what she felt was important enough to use the last of her strength to say. She seemed to understand this as she shifted her head ever so slightly to free her mouth from where it was half buried in the grass.

"K…do…Yuu…sa—saku…"

The guard still crouching beside Shinichi frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

But there was no answer. The woman's body gave one last shudder before going completely and utterly still. She was dead.

The guard let out a regretful sigh and gently closed her eyes before getting to his feet and turning to offer Shinichi a hand up. But he paused at the sight of the medic's face. The young man had gone pale, staring down at the woman's lifeless face.

"Are you all right?" he asked, laying a hand on the medic's shoulder and wondering what could possibly have drawn that reaction from the boy. Young though he was for a medic of his level, he must have seen plenty worse than this poor woman. So why did he look like he'd seen a ghost?

"She—she said…"

Frown deepening, the guard thought back over the breathy, almost inaudible syllables that had been the woman's dying words and tried to arrange them into something that made more sense. "It…sounded a bit like a name," he said finally. Then realization dawned. "She must have been trying to tell us who did this to her. What did she say again? Doyuu…Doyuusaku?"

"Yuusaku," the medic replied, voice sounding oddly distant. "Kudo Yuusaku."

"Yeah, I guess that sounds about right. We should go report this right away." He turned to do just that but his steps faltered as he caught sight of his fellow guards' shocked faces. They were all still watching the medic. Confused, he glanced from them to the boy and back again. "What are you all standing around for? We need to get a messenger to the Hokage quick—and probably to the other guard posts too. They need to know they should keep an eye out for this—"

He was cut off as one of his friends shot him a look and grabbed his arm to drag him none too gently away from the rest of the temporarily shocked shinobi.

"Have a little tact will you?" she hissed at him the moment she let him go.

He scowled. He was really starting to get annoyed here. "What do you mean? We have to—"

"I know, and one of the others already left to send the message," she snapped. "But honestly, don't tell me you don't recognize that name."

"Am I supposed to? I've never heard of anyone called Kudo Yuusaku—" He cut himself off abruptly as he cast a glance over his shoulder at the medic still kneeling by the corpse. "Hey, wait a moment, isn't his clan name…?"

His companion nodded grimly. "If I remember correctly, Yuusaku was his father's name."

"One of the deserters…"

She sighed. "You get the others to help move the body. We can't just leave her like that."

"What about you?"

"I'll take him home," she replied, gesturing towards Shinichi. "Poor kid looks like he's still in shock."

X

Being a master spy in a time of peace could be boring sometimes. Not, Kaito amended to himself, that he didn't like peace. Only a fool would wish for otherwise. But it was annoying that he was still required to spend so much time away from home when there was literally nothing going on anywhere of any importance. When he said that every report he turned in looked the same these days, he wasn't exaggerating. And he didn't gloss details.

Now however, as he watched the dove he'd taken to leaving with Shinichi take off to return to her post, he remembered that old saying "Be careful what you wish for". It seemed times were about to get interesting again. He was starting to wish they were still boring already. At least then he could choose how things were interesting.

According to his watch dove, Shinichi was currently giving his report and probably wouldn't be done for a while so Kaito turned his steps towards his mother's bakery-turned-restaurant instead. At this early hour the bakery was the only part open but there were several customers there already. As he'd expected, two of these customers were his close friend and former neighbor Nakamori Aoko (who also happened to be a member of interrogations) and her almost-but-not-twin Mouri Ran. They were talking in low voices just inside his mother's rose garden. Both turned at his approach, their expressions a mixture of confusion and concern.

"I'm glad you're back," Ran said the moment he was within earshot, somehow managing to sound both relieved and troubled at the same time. "Have you heard…?"

"I have," he replied, his expression much more serious than either girl was used to seeing it. They traded uneasy looks. "I am, however, a little blurry on the details."

"There's not much to tell," Aoko sighed. "There was a squad sent out a few weeks ago to retrieve an artifact for a client. I don't know what kind of artifact it was, but I do know it was a C rank mission so it shouldn't have been hard, but… Well, they were supposed to be back yesterday morning at the latest, only they weren't. Then before dawn today one of them came back. She died of her injuries shortly after arriving and the only thing she managed to say was…"

"Shinichi's father's name," Ran finished, the corners of her mouth turning down. "Or at least that's what everyone who heard her says it sounded like. I think the general assumption right now is that she was trying to tell us who was responsible for her injuries."

"But you don't think so," Kaito observed.

The kunoichi looked away, her gaze fixed on the roses beside her like they might be able to answer her questions. "I don't know… I knew them both—Shinichi's parents, I mean—and I'm almost positive they'd never do something like—like that to anyone. Not unless they didn't have a choice anyway. I mean, we're all different when we have to fight. But her injuries… From what I've heard, they were rather—excessive. And since she's the only one who got back the rest of the squad were most likely killed. There just doesn't seem to be any possible reason for it. But…at the same time…" She trailed off a moment before letting her breath out in a frustrated huff. "I guess it's just that I never expected them to up and disappear either. I kind of have to wonder how much I really knew about them, you know? Though I still think we can't really know anything from just a name."

The spy nodded slowly, filing away all the new pieces of information for later consultation. "Have you talked to Shinichi yet?"

"No. I went to see him as soon as I heard but he'd already gone to give his report by then and they're still talking to him."

"They should be done soon though," Aoko added. "Like I said, there's only so much information to be had. He should be home by the time you get there if you head out now. I'll go see if I can find out anything else."

"Can I go with you?" Ran asked a bit hesitantly. "I know I don't have any authorization but—"

"Don't worry about it." Aoko offered the other girl a reassuring smile. "Just stick with me. We'll let you know if we find anything," she added, turning back to Kaito.

He smiled. "Thanks. I'll see you two later then."

X

Walking up to the house he shared with Shinichi felt a little surreal after the news he'd heard that morning. It felt like it should have been different somehow, but it wasn't. Then again, he supposed, that was just the way the world worked.

Well, he was glad to be home, no matter the circumstances.

Slipping silently into the house, he made a beeline for the study upstairs where he knew Shinichi would go. It seemed to be the medic's favorite room whenever something was bothering him.

As he'd predicted, Shinichi was standing by the window, his hands resting limply on the sill. He didn't so much as twitch as Kaito entered the room. From the look on his face, he probably hadn't even noticed that he was no longer alone.

Kaito frowned. He didn't like the lost look on the medic's face. "Shinichi?"

Blue eyes blinked slowly out of whatever trance they had been in but didn't turn to look at him. "You heard…"

It wasn't a question. Shinichi had known Kaito long enough to know that news always reached the spy quickly. It was rare to the point of unheard of for the spy not to be privy to anything known by more than one person.

Kaito nodded anyway, knowing that Shinichi could see the motion in the glass. "How are you feeling?"

Shinichi was silent for a long moment before he let out a sigh that missed the glass in front of his face.

"You know, I was standing right here the last time I saw them…" Raising his hands he pressed both palms against the cool glass of the window and stared out into the street beyond. But it was clear from the distant look in his eyes that he was seeing another time altogether. "I woke up early that morning. I can't remember why… And when I looked outside I saw them. They were standing right there, talking and smiling. I remember thinking how happy they looked and wondering if they'd gotten a really interesting mission. Then they left and I went back to bed. I…never saw them again." He closed his eyes, drawing in a deep breath and focusing on the feeling of the air filling his lungs. "It was six months before I went to ask if—well, you know, if they'd been killed. I don't know why I waited that long, but that was when I found out they hadn't been sent on any missions. Then more and more people started saying they'd deserted the village. I—I kept telling them they were wrong—that they had to have a good reason, even—even if it was just because they weren't happy here… I mean, Mom was always saying she wanted to see the world, but…"

A warm hand closed on his shoulder and pulled him gently away from the window and into Kaito's familiar embrace. The spy didn't say anything, just wrapped his arms tightly around Shinichi and held him close. Shinichi turned his face into his shoulder and closed his eyes.

"What am I supposed to think now?" he whispered, the words barely audible, muffled as they were. There were so many questions, both new and old—things he had never thought he'd need to ask and thoughts that had haunted him since that day so long ago when he first realized, really realized, that his parents were never coming home again. Since the day he understood that they had left him behind without even saying goodbye. Yet no matter how much he wanted answers all he could hear was silence.


	2. The Artifact

Shortly after noon Mouri Ran and a tall young man with blond hair knocked on the door where only that morning another had done the same, albeit with a great deal more vigor. Behind them the street bustled as it would on any other day. To most of the village life was going on like it had the day before and all the other days before that. News of the unfortunate woman and her vanished squad had spread, but only among the shinobi squads and their superiors. It was, Ran supposed, a good thing, especially since no one really knew what was going on. The last thing they needed was more rumors.

"Perhaps we should come back later?" her companion, Hakuba Saguru, suggested, frowning slightly at the silent house. "Now may not be the best time…"

Ran sighed. "I suppose you're right. I guess we could wait until tomorrow and just focus on research for today."

The two of them were just turning to leave when the door suddenly opened to reveal Kaito with a cup in one hand. He glanced between them with slightly raised eyebrows.

"Ran, Hakuba, did you need something?"

"We have some things to discuss with you two," the blonde replied, brown eyes flickering to look over the spy's shoulder. "However, if this is a bad time…?"

Indigo eyes darkened for a moment before Kaito smiled and stepped back. "No, it's all right. Come on in."

They followed him inside to the living room where they found that all the furniture had been pushed up against the walls. Shinichi was sitting in the middle of the floor surrounded by open books and scattered papers. He glanced up as they came in, offered them each a slightly distracted greeting, and went back to skimming through pages upon pages of text.

"What are you doing?" Ran asked curiously, picking up one of the books near her feet and turning to the cover. It was, of all things, a book on famous pottery pieces.

"I'm looking for any references to that artifact the squad that disappeared was sent after," the medic answered without looking up.

Hakuba nodded, stepping carefully over a pile of scrolls so that he could sit down in one of the chairs pushed up against the wall. "I guess we needn't have sent Hattori and Eisuke to the archives."

"More information is always better," Shinichi replied absently before he paused and looked up. "Wait… Why are you researching this?"

Brown eyes gazed steadily—almost carefully—back at him. "We requested that our squad be assigned to investigating the truth behind this morning's incident. Our request was granted."

"I'm going too," Shinichi said immediately.

"We knew you'd say that," Ran replied. "So we got permission for you and Kaito to work with us. This investigation is pretty high priority right now so it's standard to have a medic come with anyway."

"I see." Shinichi glanced down at the book he'd been reading for a moment before looking back at them. When he spoke again it was in a much quieter voice but in the stillness of the house the words still carried clearly. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank us," Ran said softly. "We're your friends. We'll always be here, no matter what. You know that, right?"

Blue eyes held hers for a moment before looking away again, but she could read the gratitude there as he nodded. It was Hakuba who eventually broke the silence as he asked what they had found.

"Not a great deal," Kaito replied, gesturing towards the table that had been pushed into the corner of the room. It was almost entirely hidden beneath a pile of books and scrolls and if it had been able Ran was sure its legs would have been shaking from the strain. "That's all the stuff we've already gone through, but so far all we know for sure is that the artifact—the Phoenix Crown—is actually a set of artifacts. Stones, actually. There are seven of them, one for each color of the rainbow and they've been used in all kinds of art pieces in the past. One of them actually spent time decorating a king's chamber pot," he added, snickering.

Ran frowned. "But then why did the client that wanted it refer to it as a single object?"

"We think maybe they were asking only for help getting one of the stones," Shinichi answered, handing her a volume from where it had been sitting by his knee. "This says that the last time all seven stones were known to have been together was over six hundred years ago. But even a single stone is considered extremely valuable."

"Many have coveted them and sought to collect the entire set," Kaito continued, sitting down on the floor beside Shinichi and selecting a scroll to toss at Hakuba. "But misfortune seems to dog the steps of all who've tried. No one has ever gotten a hold of more than four of them before meeting some horrible end."

"Some horrible end?" Ran repeated, a shiver running down her spine. "Are they cursed?"

The spy shrugged. "Some say they are, but others chalk it up to coincidence. After all, collectors often have to but heads with other collectors, the more valuable the artifacts the more dangers tend to come attached."

"I feel like there has to be something more to them though," Shinichi murmured, frowning in thought. "There are several references to some kind of legend, but nothing about the actual legend itself. There has to be some reason people want to find them so badly."

"It is not impossible that it is a simple matter of greed," Hakuba pointed out. "There are people who will go to some extreme lengths for mere material wealth. These are precious gems, correct?"

"We're not sure."

"Well, I would say it is probably safe to assume that they are. Men have killed for less."

"I suppose so, but still…"

"Did you two get any information about the client?" Kaito interjected.

Ran nodded. "Yeah, though there isn't much. It was a woman who called herself Chris. She didn't give a clan name. She's apparently an archeologist."

"Chris…" The spy rolled the name over his tongue then shook his head. "Either she's new or very average. I'd have heard of her if she was any good—or particularly terrible—unless, of course, that isn't her real name."

"Well, she didn't claim to be famous or anything. She just said that the Phoenix Crown was essential to her research and she was willing to pay quite a lot for it. The specific stone she wanted help getting was one said to have been lost in the ruins near the town of Shintako…"

X

Later, after the impromptu research and discussion meeting had adjourned, Ran and Hakuba bid their friends farewell and left. Ran was quiet for a long time as they walked. The evening air was soothing, a cloak of peace within which they could, for the moment, believe that they had all the time in the world just for this. Heaving a sigh, she shook her head, wishing she could enjoy it more, but that unsettling feeling that had been in her stomach all day just wouldn't go away.

"Are you all right?"

The quiet question drew her attention to her companion and she looked up into concerned, brown eyes. "I'm fine, really," she added at his disbelieving look. "I just—well, I don't know, something's just felt wrong since this morning. But with everything that's happened I guess that's only to be expected."

"It is rather shocking," Hakuba agreed. "But Shinichi seems to be taking it well."

She laughed lightly at that despite the somberness of her mood. "Do you think so? I'm not so sure." Because she couldn't quite bring herself to believe that anyone could be all right with people claiming that their parents were responsible for killing one of their own villagers. Possibly more than one.

"He has never been one to jump to conclusions," her companion said, apparently guessing at her thoughts. "Neither should we. A name is just a name. Anyone can use it to mean any number of things."

"You're right." A sigh slipped past her lips but she managed a small smile. "I'm just a little afraid that…well, that it might… If it really…"

"It would perhaps be best to cross that bridge when—if—we come to it."

X

Letting out his breath in a weary sigh, Shinichi shut the last book he'd been reading and stood to add it to the mountain on the table. That made the twelfth since Ran and Hakuba had left and still nothing new. Maybe they really had found all there was to find here.

"Hey Shinichi, we should get going," Kaito announced, appearing with two coats in hand.

The medic nodded and accepted a coat before following his companion out of the house. Over the course of the two and a half years they had been living together it had become tradition for them to have dinner with Kaito's mother the day he returned from a mission. They had to wait until after she had closed up the restaurant for the night, but it was a practice all three of them had come to enjoy and neither Kaito nor Shinichi minded eating a bit late.

They arrived at the restaurant just in time to see the sign being flipped around to closed. Kuroba Chikage turned around at the sound of their greetings and smiled warmly.

"It's good to see you two again, and Kaito, welcome back. If you two wouldn't mind helping me clean up, we'll get to eat much sooner."

"Of course we will," Kaito agreed, producing a carnation and offering it to her (he always brought a different type of flower for her from each of his journeys). "You're looking well."

She accepted it with a laugh and gave them each a hug before opening the door and letting them inside. With three pairs of hands to help the restaurant was spotless in no time and they retreated to the kitchen where pots were simmering on the stove in anticipation of the arrival of their guests.

"Is this a new recipe?" Shinichi asked in surprise as he swallowed a spoonful of curry and rice.

He was answered with a beaming smile. "As a matter of fact, it is. How is it? I've been thinking about adding it to the menu but I wanted to get a few opinions on it first."

"It's good. A little bit sweet, but it goes well with the spice you're using."

"That's good to hear. What about you Kaito? What do you think?"

"It's perfect," her son replied enthusiastically, earning himself an exasperated but fond smile.

"You always say the same thing! I don't know why I bother asking you anymore."

Kaito laughed. "Aw but Mom, I can't help it if you're a great cook."

She drew herself up in mock annoyance, though her eyes were twinkling with mirth. "Flattery will get you nowhere young man."

"On the contrary, my lady, you would be surprised how many doors high quality flattery can open."

Shinichi snorted, hiding a smile behind his teacup. "The question is, how many doors stay open?"

"I'm offended that you would even ask me that," the spy drawled, pulling on an affronted face. "I assure you I am very welcome everywhere I go."

"Really? Wasn't it just the other month that some girl's brother tried to kill you?"

"That was a mere misunderstanding," the spy said dismissively. "How was I supposed to know there was actually someone out there who thought it a crime for someone to give his sister flowers? You have to admit that's not normal. And I was just trying to be polite too. Some people have no appreciation for good manners."

"Ah, so that was where you got that cut on your arm," his mother mused, getting up to bring small plates of strawberry cake to the table. "And here I thought it was something serious. He must have been a good fighter to land a hit on you."

"As if," Kaito snorted. "I got that scratch from a cracked roof tile."

She frowned at him in disapproval. "You're getting careless."

Shinichi listened to the two Kurobas' back and forth in silence as he ate. It was odd, he supposed, but he'd always felt at home with them. Usually it was something he enjoyed, but today it sent his thoughts wandering back down the foggy stretches of memory lane. He couldn't remember if he'd felt this way back then—and it bothered him a little that he couldn't remember. He was drawn back out of his musings when Kaito's mother stood up again.

"I have a pie for you two to take home," she announced. "But you have to promise to bring the tin back to me when you're done with it." She shot her son a pointed look. "Pie tins don't grow on trees you know."

"Actually we'll be leaving on another mission tomorrow," Shinichi said, feeling a pang of guilt. "I'm not sure how long we'll be gone. Sorry."

She studied his face for a moment then chuckled. "No need to apologize. I can always find someone else to eat it. Kaito, can you bring that pot to the cold storage room for me? My hands are kind of full."

Kaito plucked the pot in question off the table and followed his mother to the storage room, bouncing it from hand to hand until she shot him a warning look. She was a very tolerant woman, but there were some rules she could be a real tyrant about. One of those was that food and anything related to it be treated with the greatest of respect.

"So where do you want this?" he asked, glancing around the tidy little cold room with interest. She'd added a lot of things since the last time he'd been in here. "Hey, is that the pie you were talking about? It looks amazing! Pity we won't be able to eat it."

"On that shelf is fine. And I can bake another one when you two get back."

He grinned. "Thanks."

She smiled in return before her expression grew somber. "Something's bothering you both about this new mission," she said quietly, raising a hand to forestall anything her son might say as she saw his mouth open. "I'm not trying to force you to tell me about it. Not unless you're ready to. But be careful, all right?"

He held her gaze with his own for a long moment before letting his grin slip into a small but sincere smile. "I will. We'll both be back before you know it."

It was a promise, and he intended to keep it.

Later, as she watched the two leave, the elder Kuroba smiled faintly. There was a shade of worry in her eyes but there was pride too because she could see that her son had grown even if she doubted he realized how much. He had always been a wild spirit. He was strong and he knew it and there had been a time when she'd been afraid of what might happen if he bored of his work one of these days. Everything had always been a game to him, but games, no matter how thrilling, could only mean so much. Now that he'd found something he really wanted to protect however that boundless energy had finally found a direction. He still played his games and laughed at the world from behind that sharp-edged grin of his, but there was a different kind of light there too these days that told her she had nothing to worry about. And she hoped that wherever her husband's spirit was now that he was watching.


	3. The Ruin

"Man it's been a long time since we all went on a mission together!" Hattori Heiji exclaimed with a grin as he glanced over his five current companions.

"That would be because there has been little call these days for six shinobi of our level all to be assigned to one mission," Hakuba said dryly. "That there is now is hardly celebration material."

The dark-skinned man shot him an irate glare. "Way to spoil the mood."

"The mood?" the blonde repeated, eyebrows rising to his hairline. "Are you even aware of our current situation?"

"Of course I am!" Hattori snapped.

"Then you should be aware that there is no mood to spoil."

"What is your problem? I'm just trying to find the silver lining here. Is that a crime?"

Walking some yards behind the two, Shinichi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in an attempt to stave off a headache. "I thought they would have gotten over this by now,"

To his left Ran rolled her eyes. "You know them better than that. The day they do stop I'll probably have to take them to the hospital."

"Or prison," Kaito chuckled from Shinichi's other side. "Because they'll probably be imposters."

"Bad ones," the medic muttered under his breath.

Ahead of them Hondo Eisuke, the sixth member of their party, made an attempt to interrupt the brewing argument only to back away hurriedly as he found himself on the receiving end of two equally hostile glares. Sighing, he fell back to give Ran a pleading look.

"Shouldn't you stop them? I mean, we're supposed to be keeping an eye out along the way for clues as to what might have happened to that squad that disappeared, right? I don't think they're paying attention anymore."

Ran looked again at the two in question and let out an exasperated sigh of her own. It had always been her (self-appointed) job to prod the two back on topic whenever they got too carried away by their petty squabbles. That had meant that ever since Shinichi had transferred out of their squad and into the Medical Core she'd been left in charge by default as neither Saguru nor Heiji seemed quite able to bring themselves to listen to anything the other said without a comment or three unless the situation was dire. However, though she didn't exactly mind the task, it could get annoying sometimes—especially since she'd been doing it for years.

"It's not a problem," Kaito interjected before she could make a move however. "My doves are scouting the areas surrounding our route. They'll let us know if there's anything out of the ordinary."

"But what if they miss something?" Eisuke asked hesitantly. "Shouldn't we make sure?"

Kaito's grin took on a slightly dangerous edge and the boy took an involuntary step away from him. "My doves do not miss things."

"Oh, uh…" Eisuke laughed a bit nervously. Having joined the squad after Shinichi's transfer, he hadn't had quite as much contact with Kaito as the others had and was inclined to be a bit wary of the eccentric spy. "S—sorry." That said he gave some vague excuse revolving around scouting ahead and disappeared.

Shinichi watched him go with a bemused look before glancing up into Kaito's laughing eyes. "You did that on purpose."

"You have to admit, it was funny," the spy laughed, looping an arm around Shinichi's waist and leaning in to place a quick kiss on his lips. Shinichi blushed but Ran just smiled. His friends were all too used to Kaito's very open affections by now. Nowadays Shinichi himself was the only who still got embarrassed (which Kaito found vastly amusing and Shinichi found vastly unfair).

Night was falling when they decided to make camp. There had been some debate over whether they should keep going until there was no light left, but no one wanted to miss something important in the darkness.

"If we proceed at this pace and keep to these hours, we should arrive in Shintako three hours before sunset the day after tomorrow," Hakuba announced as he perused the map he had spread on the ground in front of him. "The town itself is located on a lake shore. The ruins where the Phoenix Crown stone was supposed to have been hidden are on the other side of that. I would recommend we take advantage of the light we will have left to do a preliminary search of the place when we arrive so that we may better plan our future actions from there."

"Why do you want to have to go twice?" Hattori grumbled as he added more fuel to the campfire. "I say we wait for the morning and search the whole place in one go. Less chance of missing something that way."

The blonde shot him a glare over the leaping flames. "Not having a plan of action is more likely to lead to careless mistakes, not less."

"This is an investigation, not a battle," the dark-skinned shinobi countered, rolling his eyes.

"And if the missing squad members are still there injured?" Hakuba snapped, brown eyes flashing. "Do you still propose we waste unnecessary time?"

"Saguru," Ran cut in, frowning. "He didn't mean it that way."

"Of course I didn't," Hattori declared, though he sounded rather more subdued. "It's just, well, you know, with the condition that girl was in…"

"But it's still possible that someone survived," Eisuke reasoned, adjusting his glasses.

A somber silence fell over the camp before Hattori broke it with an uncomfortable cough. "So did anyone else notice that we're two short?"

Ran laughed. "I think that's why there are two doves sitting over there."

X

"Where are we going?" Shinichi asked, casting an anxious glance back over his shoulder. He didn't really think that it was right of them to abandon their teammates like this even if they had already set up to camp for the night.

Kaito flashed a grin at him as he squeezed Shinichi's hand, making no move to slow down or turn around. "They can take care of themselves. And my birds will let us know if they can't. Besides, if we don't hurry we'll miss it."

"Miss it?" the medic repeated, puzzled. "Miss what?"

"You'll see. I found it last month. It's lucky we're camping so near tonight. Now come on, we're almost there."

Ten minutes later the trees gave way to a fair sized meadow. It was quiet there, the only sounds that of the forest and the two humans who had stepped into its tranquil depths. Kaito paused at the edge of the meadow, scanning the surrounding trees, then nodded to himself and made a beeline for a particularly ancient specimen, still pulling Shinichi along behind him. They came to a halt at the base of the tree.

"This will do," the spy announced. Shinichi opened his mouth to ask what exactly it was supposed to 'do' for, but Kaito had already turned towards him and swept him off his feet and into the spy's arms. Then they were both off the ground and landing on one of the tree's sprawling, lower branches. Once there he sat down with Shinichi in his lap so that they could both look down into the meadow below.

"Can't you warn me before you do things like that?" the medic complained, though there was little heat to it.

"That wouldn't be half as fun. Besides, I like how you cling to me when you're surprised."

Shinichi flushed at that. "I do _not_."

His companion quirked a quizzical eyebrow. "Really? You did just ten seconds ago."

"What are we here for anyway?" He asked hastily. He didn't so much hear Kaito chuckle as feel it but the spy refrained from commenting.

"Do you recognize those plants down there?" he asked instead.

Surprised, Shinichi glanced down at the plants in question. "I…don't think so. But it's kind of hard to see them clearly from here, especially in this light."

"True. Here." Unwrapping one arm from around his companion, Kaito raised his hand in front of Shinichi's face and snapped his fingers, producing a sprig of green leaves topped by a bud. "Better?"

Shinichi carefully took the plant and turned it over in his hands. Its leaves were long and narrow and unusually soft for the leaves of a plant. Each leaf curled gently almost like wisps of gray-green smoke. "I've never seen anything like it."

"That's not surprising. Some people believe they don't even exist."

"Really?" Curious fingers traced lightly along one soft leaf. "What is it exactly?"

Instead of answering, Kaito raised a hand to gesture at the meadow below. "Better look now or you'll miss it."

Shinichi cast him a puzzled look out of the corner of his eye before looking down into the meadow as instructed. The moon had risen and the meadow was now bathed in silver light. The field of green almost seemed to be sparkling.

No, wait, it _was_ sparkling. All over the meadow small beads of silver light were bursting into life, growing brighter by the second. It took him a moment to realize that they were flowers. Every bloom was composed of nine luminous, silver petals so delicate they were almost transparent. Then there was a flash of light much closer to hand and he watched in wonder as the bud he was holding opened out into a palm-sized flower.

"They say that a long time ago there lived a bird with feathers that looked as though they had been spun of moonlight," Kaito murmured, warm breath ghosting over his ear. "It was known to be the most beautiful creature ever to grace the earth with its presence. At night, when it flew across the sky, its beauty put the moon herself to shame. But the moon didn't like that. She was used to being the most beautiful creature in the night. So one day…"

X

The ruins stood in all their devastated glory on the opposite shore of Shintako's lake. Once, long ago, it had been a temple to some obscure deity whose name had faded into oblivion under the shifting sands of time. Now it was little more than a collection of crumbling walls and hollow buildings around which the town's children made their ghost stories.

And yet it was still beautiful in a way, Shinichi thought. Looking at it you could almost see the grandeur it must once have exuded. Even now it had a quiet dignity about it.

"It doesn't look like anyone's been here in years," Hattori observed. "Are we even sure that last squad got this far?"

"Some of the townsfolk told us they saw them come this way," Shinichi replied.

"Though they may not have visited this particular area of the ruins," Kaito added, sharp eyes scanning the surrounding architecture with interest. "Those markings we found near the main entrance couldn't have been more than two weeks old though so someone must have been here. The question is who and why."

"The townsfolk also mentioned that they stopped letting the children play here since one child nearly got caught by a cave in, so the chances that it was our people is pretty high. Although we can't rule out the possibility that it was just a traveler wandering by."

"Sounds like the conclusion is we can't know anything," Hattori sighed, kicking at a loose rock and watching it roll away through the weeds.

Further discussion was abandoned when the sound of a whistle reached their ears. Recognizing it as a signal, the three made their way back to the entrance of the ruins where they met up with Ran, Saguru, and Eisuke.

"Any luck?" Ran asked the moment she saw them. At their negative response, she let out a resigned breath. "Well, at least we know there's nothing to find in the open. We can start searching inside the buildings tomorrow."

Together, the six of them headed back to the boat they had rented earlier in order to reach the ruins more quickly. As the simple, streamlined craft eased its way through the water Shinichi watched the ripples spreading away across the deep, black waters. A sudden frown flashed across his face as he caught sight of a glint of silver. It seemed to have caught on some rough patch on their boat as it was following them. Reaching out on an impulse, he dipped his hand into the cold water. His questing fingers closed around something smooth and hard. Lifting it from the water, he held it up to the fading sunlight and felt his blood run cold.

There, resting innocently across his palm, was a headband, the metal plate in the middle clearly engraved with Konoha's symbol.


	4. The Archeologist

"What I don't understand is why none of us found any traces of blood." Placing the tips of his fingers together, Hakuba looked over them at the three headbands they had fished out of the lake. Each had been laid out to dry on the table in Kaito and Shinichi's room where the six were currently gathered. It had taken them nearly an hour to find all three. They had also found what little remained of the people who had worn them amidst the rocks on the bottom of the lake. Really, it was sheer luck that the first one must have fallen off its wearer nearer the shore where it had later caught on a splinter on their boat.

"They could've fought entirely on the water," Eisuke suggested, his own eyes fixed on the headbands in a manner that suggested he just couldn't tear his gaze away. Shinichi suspected it might have something to do with the fact that the boy had been a full shinobi for only a few years, and most of those years had been years of uninterrupted peace. His face when they'd brought what was left of the bodies onto the shore had been a picture of shocked horror. Then again, none of them had found the sight particularly easy to stomach. Whoever had killed them had been a vicious soul indeed.

His fists clenched on his knees at the thought that there was anyone out there so cruel (and he wondered with a sick twist in his stomach what his father could possibly have to do with anyone like that). "I'm sure someone would have seen something if that were the case. Or heard something. Sound carries well over water. People would have heard fighting."

"And news like that travels like wildfire in towns this size," Kaito agreed. "It would have hatched a dozen different tall tales and probably a ghost story or three by now. It is far more likely that they were killed either inside the ruins where we haven't looked yet or somewhere else entirely and left there until the blood dried before their bodies were dumped in the lake."

"This just keeps getting better and better," Hattori muttered darkly. "I take it we're going back to the ruins tomorrow then?"

Ran nodded, her own face grim. "Though it might also be a good idea to talk some more with the people around town. Maybe someone did notice something but they're just too scared to say."

After the headbands had been carefully packed away they dispersed to their own rooms, each with a head full of anxious thoughts and determination to get to the bottom of this whole unpleasant business.

X

The problem with Hakuba being the Master of the Money, Kaito mused, was that the blonde had no sense of adventure. He had parceled out exactly how much money he deemed allowable for every meal and taken it upon himself to do the ordering. As a result breakfast was an unimpressive assortment of boring, everyday breakfast foods. And he'd been hoping to try the inn's specialty watermelon sundae. Hakuba seemed to be under the impression that desserts were a waste of time on top of being a waste of finances. No wonder he'd never liked working with the blonde. He'd been hoping going out with Ran would get the guy to mellow out a bit, but it seemed certain habits died hard. How did the poor girl put up with him?

"You can get it later with your own money," Shinichi reminded him, pointing towards the menu on the wall and the timetable on it. "They sell them all day."

"But we have no idea when we'll be back." The spy heaved an over exaggerated sigh. "Do you think we'd be able to eat it before it melted if we took one with us?"

"Probably not. It's pretty hot outside right now," Shinichi replied before pausing and going back over what he'd just heard. "What do you mean by 'we'?"

"You didn't think I wouldn't share, did you?" Kaito pulled on an affronted face. "What kind of person do you take me for?"

Shinichi sighed but he couldn't suppress a smile. "You know I don't like things that are too sweet…"

Kaito grinned back. "It's watermelon, Shinichi. There's only so sweet it can get. Besides, the whole point of traveling is to see new things, try new things, do new things—you get the idea. Just because we're working doesn't mean we can't have fun."

"Excuse me."

They all looked up to see a pretty, blond woman standing by their table. Her clothes were plain and practical but clearly of high quality.

"I'm sorry to intrude," she said politely, "but some of the townsfolk told me you were asking about those four shinobi who were here until last week?"

The six traded glances before Kaito nodded, offering her a pleasant smile. "We were. Did you have something you wished to tell us?"

"Well, not really," she replied, fiddling with the strap of her rather large shoulder bag. "I, well… To tell you the truth I've been wondering what might have happened to them. They were supposed to meet me a little over a week ago right here in this inn but they never came."

Shinichi could sense that everyone around the table was now on high alert but Kaito only nodded thoughtfully. "By any chance, do you go by the name Chris?"

The woman tensed slightly as her expression grew wary. "I do. But how did you know?"

The spy grinned and stood up, sweeping her a bow. "Well met then, Miss Archeologist. We were sent here by Konoha when the squad you were working with did not return on schedule. However we did not realize you were actually here in town."

The woman relaxed and returned his smile. "I see. I didn't actually plan on coming myself either, but one of the squad members came to me and asked if I could come assist them since I couldn't describe to them exactly what I wished them to find for me."

Kaito nodded slowly. "So you came in order to verify if any of the things they might find was what you wanted."

"I did—and I think they already had some items for me to look at when I arrived. That was what we were going to discuss that time they didn't meet me. I tried looking for their guide to see if he knew what might have happened to them but I couldn't find him either."

"Their guide?" Shinichi repeated, straightening abruptly. "Who do you mean?"

Chris turned to him with an apologetic frown. "I never actually met the man, but the messenger who escorted me here told me they'd met a man who claimed to know the Crown's whereabouts and was willing to guide them to it. I was curious since I was not aware that anyone other than myself had identified the Shintako ruins as a possible location for a piece of the Phoenix Crown, but all my escort could tell me was that it was a tall, thin man who wore glasses. I got the impression that only the squad leader had actually spoken extensively with him. They were going to introduce me to him when they returned from the expedition."

"Really? This is the first we've heard of such a man," Kaito mused, casting a glance at the rest of his companions.

Hakuba had a speculative look on his face. "This could be a lead. I recommend we split into two teams today—one to stay here and try to learn more about this man and one to begin searching inside the ruins."

Ran nodded and turned a kind smile to the anxious archeologist. "Thank you for your help. We'll let you know if we find anything."

Relief flooded across the woman's face. "Would you? I would really appreciate it. I've been so worried…"

"Of course."

She thanked them again before bidding them a good day and giving them her room number in case they had any more questions for her or found anything. They watched her leave, her posture that of someone who had had a great weight lifted off of her shoulders.

"I guess now we have a bit more of an idea of what might have happened," Eisuke remarked, looking almost as relieved as the archeologist had.

"If our dear Miss Archeologist was telling us the truth," Kaito remarked, settling back into his chair. "But it's better than nothing."

Shinichi glanced over at him in concern. "Do you think she was lying?"

The spy shrugged. "I'm not sure."

Silence fell around the table as the rest of them digested this new tidbit of information. It was incredibly rare for Kaito not to be able to tell whether someone speaking to him was lying or telling the truth. That he wasn't sure one way or the other about the sincerity of the archeologist's tale… Frankly it was rather disturbing.

"But it's not like she has any reason to lie to us," Hattori reasoned. "I mean, our people were only here because she hired them in the first place. She should've been rooting for them more than anyone else really. Not to mention she should want us to find them in case they really did have her Crown thing already."

"But she should also be the one who said the mission was a C rank," Hakuba countered. "She may be afraid that we will discover she withheld information that would have raised both the stakes for Konoha and the price for her."

"But Aoko told me she was very clear about not caring about the price. And it's not impossible that she didn't know there were dangerous people after it or something like that. Maybe she's just scared now that she realizes there might be more going on," Ran said, turning her teacup around and around in her hands. "Well, whether or not she's hiding something, we should probably still proceed with the search of the ruins and ask around for that mystery man."

"Kaito and I can search for the man," Shinichi offered.

The kunoichi nodded. "Then Saguru, Heiji, Eisuke, and I will go back to the ruins."

"I'll send a bird with you," Kaito told her. "Send it back if you need us."

"Let's get going then!" Hattori pushed his chair back from the table and stood up. Stretching the kinks out of his back, he double checked that his sword was securely at his side and glanced around at his teammates. "Well? What're you all still sitting around for?"

The rest of them followed him out of their chairs much more sedately. Ever impatient, he turned the moment he saw them move and was out the door before any of them could blink. Kaito watched them go with an amused smile before glancing over to where Shinichi was poking disinterestedly at what remained of his breakfast. The medic hadn't eaten anything since their short talk with the archeologist.

"Shinichi?"

The shinobi in question sighed and lay down his chopsticks. "I'll go get a box for this." Five minutes later he'd packed the food and motioned to Kaito that he was ready to go.

"What are you thinking?" he asked quietly as they stepped out into the bright, sun-flooded street outside the inn.

Shinichi grimaced slightly. "That I don't know what I should be thinking, I suppose. I keep hoping everything's going to start making sense, but …"

"Well, we'll know soon enough, right? There's no point agonizing over it when we haven't found anything yet. And if your parents do turn out to be here, you can ask them about everything when we see them." He paused when he noticed that Shinichi was no longer walking with him. Turning, he found him intently focused on his own feet. "Shinichi? What's wrong?"

The medic's eyes remained trained on the ground as a sigh escaped his lips. "I just realized that…well, it's been so long I don't know what my own parents look like. I might not even know it's them if we met."

Kaito put a comforting arm around his shoulders, giving them a reassuring squeeze. "I'm sure you'll recognize them if you see them."


	5. Dance of Shades

Every town had its gossip spots. Kaito had summoned half a dozen doves the previous day and left them to explore the town while he and the others had done their preliminary search of the ruins. Well used to this type of scouting work, the doves had reported back with a handful of these gossip spots. According to them, the most lively of these was the town's market square and the well. Seeing as strangers would stick out like sore thumbs at the latter, he'd sent three doves back to watch the place that morning while he and Shinichi headed for the market.

The nice thing about this particular type of news gathering was that there were quite a lot of people who were more than eager to fill a willing ear with all kinds of rumors.

"A thin man with glasses interested in the ruins?" the fruit vendor asked, his eyes lighting up like lanterns. "Oh, you must be talking about the ghost of Shintako Lake! They say that on moonless nights a tall, skeletal man rises from the depths of the lake to prowl the shores in search of unwary young women who stray too far from home after dark. He seems human when he appears but for his eyes which he hides behind dark glasses because they glow with the blue light of ghost fires and anyone who looks into them cannot help but realize his inhuman nature. But while his eyes are hidden he seems to be no more than a polite, young man. Those he successfully brings under his spell he takes out into the lake and drowns, their souls forever trapped in its waters."

And the not so nice thing—you never knew what kind of information you were going to get.

Standing beside Kaito, Shinichi could only stare dumbly at the man, but the spy smiled and nodded and gasped at all the right places before thanking the vendor and getting a free apple in the process which he offered to Shinichi.

"You lookin' fer the eye doctor?" the wizened old dress maker asked. "The tallest man in town he is! And he's got dozens of them glasses things. But he won't give anyone more 'n one at a time he won't. Says each person's gotta have the right one, like yer special someone, you know. Been workin' his trade fer fifty years and still singin' the same tune. Some people're just like that. Never change. Why, I remember this one time when…"

Even Kaito had had some difficulty extracting them from the old woman's verbal clutches. In the end he'd resorted to tugging Shinichi (who'd been quietly nibbling on his apple as an excuse so that he wouldn't have to say anything) over and kissing him. The old dress maker had stopped talking in her surprise as Kaito bid her a good day and dragged his furiously blushing companion to their next stop.

"No one's interested in those damned ruins anymore," was the fervent opinion of the blacksmith. "Leastwise no one from 'round here is anymore. Not since that old scholar died. Don't see what you tourists find so interesting about them really. I mean, it's a bunch of buildings on the verge of falling down. Can't even use them for anything useful anymore. I say we should just quarry the thing and build something we can all use. If you really want to see something interesting you should visit the weavers' hall. We've got some real amazing talent there."

"Thanks, we'll keep that in mind," Kaito replied.

"I'm starting to think this is a lost cause," Shinichi sighed as they left the blacksmith's shop behind. "We've heard more ghost stories than facts, and most of the facts are questionable at best…"

"This kind of thing takes patience," the spy admonished with an amused smirk. "Anything worth having always takes time to get. Patience is the key. Besides," he added as an afterthought, "I like the stories. They're what really makes this job interesting. You get to hear all the funny little things people think and believe. It's a real eye-opener at times. Makes for great material when you need to fill some silence too."

X

Heiji frowned slightly as he studied the scuffed, stone floors of what they had determined had once been the temple's altar chamber. As had been the case in several of the main building's halls and inner chambers, the thick layer of dust that had carpeted every surface bore signs of recent disturbance. There wasn't anything so grand as a trail of footprints, but it did look as though many pairs of feet had spent some time trampling here and there. Some spots, especially the floor at the foot of the back wall, had practically been wiped clean. They had yet to find any blood though.

What made this particular chamber different from the rest however was that there were signs of recent damage. Walls in several places had gained cracks whose edges were far too sharp to be anything other than fresh. The altar itself, once a beautiful, soaring structure of carefully sculpted stone, had been snapped off at the base and crushed into near unrecognizable chunks. The largest piece amongst said chunks was what appeared to be some kind of feather headdress and half a face. Other than the lack of blood, it looked like it must have been the scene of some kind of struggle. That or an extremely angry vandal.

And yet…something just didn't feel right. Something about the room felt out of place. Why was the altar so thoroughly destroyed when the rest of the room merely looked mildly scratched? There were certainly lots of other statues—three in every corner in fact. Some of these were cracked, chipped, or missing the occasional limb, but they were still very much intact.

"It looks like there's nothing that can help us here," Eisuke remarked, letting out a disappointed breath as he stood up from his examination of the altar's remains. "I just don't get it… I mean, something must have happened here. Maybe we should go see what the others—"

He cut himself off abruptly as a low rumble filled the air.

Heiji glanced around the room then back at his teammate. "By any chance, are you really hungry?"

"I…don't think so. Are you?"

"I wouldn't mind a bite of something, but it wasn't me either."

They looked at each other for a moment before turning so that they were standing back to back. Heiji's hand went to the hilt of his sword and he drew it from its sheath with a quiet rasp of steel. His knees bent automatically and he raised the blade into a defensive position as the rumbling sound grew.

Almost as though in response to his actions, the thick shadows of the room shifted, and suddenly they weren't alone anymore.

The creatures came right through the walls—or maybe they'd come _from_ the walls. Their bodies simply melted out of the stone to form solid yet fluidly mobile shapes that flexed like muscle but looked like stone. The creatures themselves would have resembled wolves if wolves customarily had two heads each.

Eisuke swallowed hard. "D—do you think _they_ 're hungry?"

"You know, I _really_ wish you hadn't asked me that."

X

"Tall and thin with glasses… Tall and thin with glasses… I'm not really sure," the girl running a stand selling roasted nuts mused as her hands busily collected money and bagged nuts for her customers with the well practiced precision of one who had been doing this work so long that she no longer had to think about it. "I guess the tailor's a pretty tall man, and he wears glasses, but he's not exactly thin—just don't tell him I said that if you go see him. One of the baker's assistants wears glasses and he's skinny as a rail, but, well, he only wears his glasses to read. His sister on the other hand fits the bill perfectly! Oh, but you said it was a man didn't you? Hmm… Maybe you should go see…"

As she prattled on Shinichi turned his gaze to the stream of people passing by. Every few seconds one of them would detach themselves from the crowds to purchase a paper bag of roasted nuts. No one was paying the two strangers any mind. Or at least no one had been until just a few moments ago when a woman about his own height with loose, wavy black hair that fell a bit past her shoulders had frozen in her tracks. She stood there for maybe five seconds like a trapped animal before turning abruptly on her heels and hurrying away.

Shinichi tapped Kaito on the shoulder, never taking his eyes off of the spot where the strange woman had disappeared. "Did you see that?"

"The lady who legged it out of here when she heard what we were asking, yes," Kaito murmured back out of the corner of his mouth before clearing his throat to get the nut seller's attention. "Excuse me, if you don't know a tall, thin man with glasses, I don't suppose you know a middle aged woman about the same size as my friend here with black hair about this long?" He gestured with his hands to illustrate his question. "She looks a little worn out and has dark eyes. She might also sometimes wear a lily hairpin in her hair. She seems a bit skittish."

"You must mean Hanami! Poor woman lost her nerve when her husband passed away. Spends almost all her time at home these days and doesn't talk to anyone unless she has to. Usually eats like a bird now too though we keep telling her it's not good for her. She's been getting a lot more groceries lately than she used to though. But I think she might have visitors—probably some of her relatives. She came here from another town you see. Sometimes one of her brothers or sisters will come over and try to get her to move back to their homes so she won't be so lonely, but she insists on staying here." She sighed, shaking her head. "If you ask me she'd be a lot better off if she went. The best place for a wounded heart is with family, or at least that's what I've always thought. Still…I think she still misses him. Kindest man I ever did know. They shared that house for twenty years… I guess I might not want to leave that in a hurry if I were her either. Did you want to talk to her? She used to be one of those people who liked to have travelers over and hear their stories, but I'm not sure she's done that in a while. It might cheer her up a bit though."

Shinichi shifted a bit uncomfortably when Kaito promised the girl that they would try and received directions to Hanami's house. It felt rather too much like they were taking advantage of her kindness and concern for a troubled acquaintance.

"If you don't stop frowning people are going to start wondering what we're up to," Kaito leaned over to murmur into his ear. "Don't worry. I have lots of stories we can tell. No reason we can't cheer the poor woman up while we find out if this is a lead or not."

"I guess so." He brightened slightly. "So which way did she say we were supposed to go?"

"Just follow me."

The widow Hanami lived in a house near the outskirts of the town near the shore of the lake. It was a small, cozy house, though the years had worn the paint away and all the shutters on the windows had been shut, giving it a rather unwelcoming air. Weeds thrived in the front yard, having beaten out any competition long ago, and the steps up to the door were scuffed.

They knocked on the front door and waited a good five minutes before it creaked open a bare finger's width. An eye peered at them from through the crack.

"Yes?" a nervous woman's voice asked hesitantly.

"Are you Miss Hanami?" Kaito inquired, leaning down so that he would be at eye level with the single eye watching them.

"I am…"

Kaito smiled reassuringly at her as he introduced himself and Shinichi and explained that they had heard she used to like talking to travelers. He also presented her with a bag of roasted nuts that the nut seller had asked them to deliver for her. Hanami seemed to relax slightly as Kaito talked and the door inched gradually open until they could finally see the widow more clearly. Her face was pale and the cheeks hollow. Dark circles stood out under her eyes and it was obvious that she was too thin. Shinichi's medic instincts kicked in and he had to suppress the urge to make the woman sit down, make her a decent meal, and send her to bed for a good long rest (she looked like she might bolt of he tried). On the other hand the wariness was retreating from her eyes and eventually she invited them in and offered them tea.

"We heard you liked to hear new stories," Kaito remarked over a cup of tea.

The woman nodded, smiling a bit sadly. "My late husband was a scholar. We used to collect the stories travelers brought with them and write them down. He always believed that no story should ever be allowed to die. He especially loved myths and legends."

"There is a certain allure to old legends," the spy agreed. "They always seem to have a life of their own. I'm a bit of a story collector myself, and I must agree that it's the oldest stories that are often the most striking."

Shinichi leaned back in his seat and nursed his cooling tea, listening as the others talked. It felt a little awkward to be just sitting like this in a stranger's house, chatting over tea when they were on a mission to find a rather vicious killer, but at the same time it was nice to see the shadows slowly lifting from the widow's face. Perhaps what she had needed all along was someone to talk to about something other than her grief. Coming here had definitely been worthwhile, and it would be whether or not she could help them.

It wasn't until hours later that Kaito brought up the matter of the man they were searching for. Hanami looked ponderingly at them for a long moment, turning her cup slowly around and around in her hands, before she answered.

"Why are you looking for this man?"

Kaito held her gaze steadily. "We have a few questions we want to ask him because a few of our comrades went missing recently and we heard that he might have been the last to see them."

"I see." She fell silent again before letting out a quiet sigh. "Well, I don't know if he is the man you're looking for, but I do know someone who fits your description. He's an old friend of my husband's and he and his wife have been my guests for a few weeks now. You can see if he will talk to you."

"Is he here now?"

"I think so. I'm not actually sure. I've lent them the room at the end of the hall. If you wish, I could go see if either of them are in."

"That's all right. If you wouldn't mind, we can go see ourselves."

She nodded, watching them with an unreadable expression as they made their way into the hall.

"Let me go in first," Shinichi said quietly as they reached the appointed door. The spy hesitated a moment. He didn't like the idea of letting his partner enter the room first when they knew nothing about who might be on the other side and if they might be dangerous (frankly he would have preferred Shinichi stay in the front room with Hanami, but the medic was too stubborn for that), but there was a quiet plea in his voice that made him relent.

"I'll be watching," he said instead, pulling Shinichi into a quick embrace before stepping back. The medic saw his hands flicker through a series of seals an instant before he seemed to fade from sight.

He turned back to the door and tapped the wood lightly. A voice responded from inside, muffled by the wood but sounding like an invitation. Taking a deep breath, he pushed it open, stepping over the threshold and into the room beyond.

It was the first room he'd seen in this house whose window was open. It looked out towards the lake, framing a rather picturesque view of glimmering waters.

And in front of the open window, with his hands clasped behind his back, was a man.

The man turned from the window, the late evening sunlight flashing off of wire-rimmed spectacles. "It's been a long time, hasn't it, Shinichi?"


	6. Reasons

For several minutes there was nothing but silence. A million things were racing through Shinichi's mind but he couldn't get a hold of any one of them long enough to give it shape. It felt a little like he'd just fallen off of the edge of a cliff with no way to catch himself.

The man seemed to be waiting for him to say something, but he couldn't. What was he supposed to say? What _could_ he say?

He was saved from having to say anything yet when the sound of the front door opening and closing cracked the silence. It was followed by happy whistling which paused briefly as whoever it was greeted Hanami before proceeding towards their room at a quicker pace. Then a woman with long, brown hair appeared in the doorway. Her eyes grew wide with surprise when she spotted Shinichi before she let out an excited squeal that might have been his name and threw herself at him. Shinichi flinched and ducked away from her on reflex. Her expression morphed into what he could only call a pout and she put her hands on her hips.

"Is that any way to say hello to your mother after all this time?" she demanded, still pouting.

Suddenly feeling outnumbered and confused, Shinichi took another step away from the two. Kaito had been right, he did recognize them, but somehow that fact just wasn't helping at all. Part of him wanted very badly to turn around and bolt but he couldn't. He wasn't here for just himself. He had a mission to accomplish too. For the sake of that poor, dead woman and her teammates, he stayed where he was.

"Kaito," he called, fighting to keep his voice steady and never taking his eyes from the two, "you can come in."

There was no sound but a moment later Kaito was standing beside the room's only desk. The briefest flickers of surprise passed over the faces of the room's two older occupants but they made no other comment at his sudden appearance.

"And you are?" the man inquired.

"Kuroba Kaito," the spy replied with a mocking half-bow. "You won't have heard of me. I presume you would be Kudo Yuusaku and Kudo Yukiko?"

"That's right," The woman agreed, looking him over with a slightly puzzled expression. "Are you from Konoha too?"

"I am," he replied, still watching them like a man studying something under a magnifying glass. "How long have you two been in Shintako?"

She blinked. "A few weeks. Why do you ask?"

"A squad sent here from Konoha a few weeks ago disappeared. We've found their bodies, but we still don't know who killed them," Shinichi answered, his voice emerging much calmer than he felt. "We talked to some people and they told us that someone that looked like you," he gestured towards Yuusaku, "was seen with them."

"Me? Ah, I see," the man murmured, the last of his words spoken more like he was thinking aloud. "She must have used a transformation to disguise herself as me…but I wonder why she—"

"Someone using a transformation jutsu?" Shinichi cut in, frowning. "But why would they pretend to be you? It can't have been for credibility," he added, a hint of bitterness creeping into his voice.

"That is partly what we are here to find out," Kudo Yuusaku replied, reaching up to adjust his glasses.

Shinichi eyed both their faces carefully. "Really."

The woman's hands flew to her mouth as her eyes widened in horrified realization. "You didn't really think it was us…did you?"

"I…" He looked down, not quite able to bring himself to look at them. "What am I supposed to think?"

"But—but we'd never…! How could you say that?"

Her half indignant half scandalized exclamations stopped as her husband placed a soothing hand on her shoulder.

"We did not have anything to do with the disappearance of your comrades," he said clearly, nothing but sincerity in his eyes. "Or at least not beyond the fact that the one responsible apparently assumed my form at some point."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Hanami's late husband was an old friend of ours."

"That's not what I meant," the medic snapped, frustration growing by the second. He thought he might be beginning to shake.

"We are here to investigate the Phoenix Crown and stop the woman who seeks to claim its power."

"Woman?" Shinichi repeated, eyes narrowing. "What woman?"

His parents traded glances before his father sighed and gestured to two of the room's empty chairs. "Please sit down. We'll start from the beginning."

Shinichi reluctantly sank into one of the proffered chairs. Kaito slid soundlessly into the one next to him. He reached over to cover one of Shinichi's hands with his own, giving it a comforting squeeze.

"We received an invitation to meet an old friend of ours that morning," Kudo Yuusaku began. "We had to hurry to reach the correct destination in time so we packed light and headed out as soon as there was light enough to see. The friend we were meeting was a woman named Sharon that your mother and I met long ago. She was a member of a disgraced clan and had not been raised in a shinobi village, but she was highly skilled even then and had helped us on some of our more difficult missions. Her invitation said she had found something interesting that she wished to show us."

"Sharon was always really into old artifacts, especially if they had a lot of legends attached to them," Yukiko picked up where her husband had left off, her gaze growing distant and wistful. "We used to have so much fun going to different antique shops and junk sales looking for interesting things that people might have thrown away. It was great just spending time together and every time we found something really unique it was always so exciting! But Sharon was most interested in finding artifacts that had real power. Not just ones that people thought were cursed or something like that. But true artifacts of power don't grow on trees. You can imagine how often we actually found one of those. She was always so disappointed when they turned out to be nothing more than what they seemed to be."

She sighed, folding her hands in her lap. "About a year before we lost contact with her she'd started doing a lot of research into an artifact known as the Phoenix Crown. I'm sure you must have heard of it by now. We assumed that was what she wanted to talk to us about when she called us out to meet her."

"We were right," Yuusaku continued. "When we arrived, she told us that she had uncovered the truth behind the seven stones of the Phoenix Crown. Their name, she told us, was given to them because together they held powers akin to that of the phoenix for they would consume the world and reduce it to ashes from which it would be born anew. Or at least that is how the legend goes. Exactly how or why it would do this is unclear. What does matter is that Sharon had already found one of the stones. It was in Yukiko's necklace—one passed down to her from her mother."

Yukiko's hand rose reflexively as though to touch a necklace that wasn't there anymore. "She asked us to help her find and assemble all seven stones. When we refused and tried to leave, we found out we'd been standing in a trap the whole time… She took my necklace in the end and left us for dead."

"It took us a few months to fully recover our strength," Yuusaku concluded. "Once we had we decided that we would track Sharon down and stop her from assembling the whole of the Phoenix Crown. So instead of returning to Konoha we set out on her trail. And this is where it has led us."

"So this Sharon person is the woman you're here to stop," Shinichi said.

"Yes."

"But—it's been more than ten years. Why didn't you come back at least once? Or sent a message?"

At that his mother laughed a bit nervously. "We were going to send a letter, but, well, then one thing followed another and…"

"I see." Standing up abruptly, Shinichi excused himself and made a beeline for the door. He cast a glance at Kaito but the spy inclined his head slightly, indicating that he was going to stay a little longer.

"You never intended to return to Konoha, did you?" he stated more than asked the moment Shinichi was gone. His gaze was fixed on the two older Kudos, taking in every flicker of emotion as his own expression remained a perfect blank.

"We did at the beginning," Yuusaku replied. "However, then this all began."

"And after the beginning?"

The older man sighed. "Everything changes. I suppose you could say we—were tired. Sometimes life, especially the lives of warriors, can be wearing on the spirit. There is a peace in the wanderer's life that you can't have if you bind yourself to a village."

"But we were going to go back some day," Yukiko added, though her voice sounded much more subdued. "It's just, well, you must know the stigma there is around people who choose to leave. Once you do, there's no going back. So we thought, maybe when he was old enough to understand and make up his own mind… We really did mean to send word though…" She trailed off, running a hand through her hair in a nervous gesture.

"And it did not once cross your mind that you were leaving a child completely alone to fend for himself?" Even with his considerable skills in acting Kaito couldn't quite keep the note of disgust out of his voice. Not, he supposed, that he was trying particularly hard. It was strain enough keeping a tight rein on the red hot anger coursing through his veins at the moment. That corner of his mind that was always taking notes mused that the last time he could remember being this mad had been when he'd met the man responsible for his father's death.

The woman looked away (was that a hint of guilt in her eyes?). "We knew he could take care of himself …"

"I suppose it really isn't important now. What's done is done," Kaito replied, tone cold and more than a little biting as he stood up, fixing them with a fierce stare. "He's not yours anymore, he's mine." And he would not allow them to break the happiness they had managed to build. He could see that they understood it too. "I'll be taking my leave then. Good day."


	7. Brewing Storms

He found Shinichi sitting on a large, flat boulder down by the lake shore. The sun was already low in the sky by then, sending their shadows to stretch out across the land like streams of black ink running across a painting. The medic had his arms around his knees and a far away look in his eyes. He didn't move when Kaito sat down beside him. Neither of them spoke for several minutes, just gazing out across the still water and listening to the distant murmur of Shintako town life and the quiet rustle of the wind through grass and leaves alike.

"Does it help at least to know?" Kaito asked finally, quiet words drifting out across the waters like spider's silk on the wind.

"I'm not sure." Shinichi closed his eyes for a moment, chin lowering. He knew now that his parents hadn't left that day so long ago intending to abandon him, but at the same time that didn't change the fact that they hadn't come back and hadn't even bothered to try and contact him. They could have died and he would never have known. In a way, they had died back then, stepping out of his life as surely as if they had gone beyond the grave, and yet… It was different, not knowing for sure—there was comfort in uncertainty. He snorted quietly. "It doesn't seem right, does it? Knowing something should always be better than not knowing, shouldn't it?"

"In a way," the spy agreed, for he had always been rather fond of knowing things—preferably everything. Scooting closer, he wrapped an arm around Shinichi who sighed and leaned into him. "But then it means it would be real, the good and the bad, so I suppose sometimes it might be better to be left uncertain. That is when you can choose your own truth."

"It's not the same though if you have a chance to know for sure which one is real," the medic mused. "Choosing not to find out would be little better than self delusion."

"Then it _is_ better to know."

"Yeah… I guess it is." As though the admission were some kind of release, the tension eased slowly from Shinichi's body. He might not be entirely happy with what he'd heard today (maybe even a little more hurt by it than he cared to admit), but it was a resolution of a sort too. An answer to a question that had haunted him for far too long. "So what do you think about that woman they mentioned? Do you think she's the one behind the killings?"

"It is possible," Kaito replied, absently picking up a pebble and sending it skipping across the lake. "But it could also be any number of other people who might have gotten it into their heads to pursue this Crown. But if it really was someone using a transformation to disguise themselves as your father… Well, it would only make sense for it to be someone who knows him. And this Sharon person sounds like she'd fit the bill quite nicely."

"I still don't understand why this woman would have bothered disguising herself to deal with a squad she was planning to get rid of though, let alone why she'd choose to turn into my father. What's the point?"

"None, if you put it that way," Kaito said slowly. "But what if she let the last squad member escape on purpose?"

"You mean if she wanted the village to hear about this?"

"And your parents are both former Konoha ninja, regardless of how long they've been away."

"What are you trying to say?"

Kaito remained silent for a long moment before he let out a quiet sigh and shook his head. "I'm not sure yet, but I am beginning to wonder if it is not entirely a coincidence that we and not some other team are here right now."

X

They were walking together along the lake shore on their way back to the inn when they heard a desperate voice calling out their names. That was when they saw the boat racing towards them. Only it wasn't being rowed. It was being propelled across the water by Ran and Heiji who had apparently felt it would be must faster just to get out and push. Their feet sent ripples racing away across the lake surface as the air filled with the sound of splashing steps.

"Shinichi!" Ran cried as she and Heiji stumbled onto the shore, dragging the boat half out of the water with them. "They need help!"

"Your hand!" he exclaimed in horror as he caught sight of Ran's right hand. It was covered in blood and the fingers seemed to be stuck in a half-curled state.

But she was shaking her head, her eyes brimming with unshed tears as she gestured helplessly into the boat. "I'll be fine. It's just my hand. But Saguru… He—I should have been more careful!"

"They've both lost a lot of blood," Heiji cut in, his own face pale. He had sunk onto the ground, apparently unable to remain upright any longer.

Shinichi darted past them and looked down into the boat. Hakuba and Eisuke had been laid across the bottom. Their clothes were covered in dark splotches. One of Eisuke's arms was lying at a bit of an odd angle but his breathing was steady. Hakuba on the other hand looked as though something had raked massive claws across his left side. His breaths were coming in shallow and pained.

Cursing to himself, Shinichi climbed carefully into the boat between the two and set to work, a faint, blue glow emanating from his hands.

"What happened?" Kaito demanded, casting a glance over the lake in the direction from which their injured companions had come. There didn't seem to be anything following them. He did see the dove he'd sent with the group circling overhead though, obviously keeping a lookout.

"We were attacked," Heiji growled, reaching up to wipe a trickle of blood out of his eyes. He winced as the motion aggravated the bruise he was sure must be spanning the whole of his back. "They must have been some kind of summoning. Looked like two-headed wolves made of stone."

"Two-headed stone wolves?" the spy repeated, eyebrows rising. He'd never even heard of such creatures. But then again, the world was full of strange beasts.

"They were really strange," Ran added, her gaze still fixed on Shinichi and his patients. "The heads with the black rings around their eyes acted like normal. But when I got bitten by one of the heads with white rings around its eyes I felt it but it didn't leave a mark. It just took a chunk out of my chakra, I think."

Kaito nodded in understanding. "I've heard of summonings that can do that. Though I've never heard of any of that breed of summoning being able to cause normal, physical damage to a person at the same time before."

"Well now you have." Heiji glowered down at the blood that had soaked the lower half of his right leg. He hadn't even noticed the cut there earlier, overcome as he'd been by the urgent need to get his two more severely injured teammates to Shinichi, but now that he was sitting still his leg was beginning to throb painfully. All the running probably hadn't helped. "Damned beasts! All this and you know how many of 'em we actually managed to take down? Two! And we didn't even get to see the blasted summoner who sicked them on us."

"We're just lucky they didn't follow us out of the ruins," Ran murmured.

"I can look at you two now," Shinichi announced as he climbed back out of the boat.

The sun had already set by the time they all returned to the inn. They carried Hakuba and Eisuke upstairs after requesting that some of their rooms be switched for one with more beds so that they could keep everyone who'd been injured together. Kaito and Shinichi explained what they had found out earlier that day as they did so. Ran was rather shocked to hear that they had actually found Shinichi's parents, but she refrained from asking too many questions about what had actually happened between them. The medic didn't seem to want to talk about it. It was a relief though to hear that they had found someone (who wasn't one of his parents) who might be the source of the trouble.

"I think we need to go talk to the archeologist—find out more about the Crown," Shinichi concluded. "You have her room number, right Kaito?"

The spy nodded, a thoughtful gleam in his indigo eyes. "Yeah, but are you sure you want to go right now? You've just used up a lot of chakra. You need to rest."

But the medic shook his head. "That can wait a little longer. I—don't think I could sleep right now even if I tried, so we might as well go see if we can learn more…"

"Fine, but the moment you yawn you're going back to bed, whether or not you feel like it."

"I'll stay here and keep watch," Ran said, her voice quiet and a little strained.

"All right. Come call me if their conditions change, okay?"

"I will."

Once Kaito and Shinichi had closed the door behind them she pulled a chair up to the side of Saguru's bed and sat down, placing her hand gently over his. All around her the room was silent but for the quiet breathing of her three sleeping teammates.

_She ducked a swiping paw and spun to deliver a kick straight into the monster's jaw. Teeth snapped and the beast snarled as its second head swerved to snap at her. She leapt nimbly back out of the way but her right foot landed on loose rocks and shot out from under her. Letting out a startled cry, she tucked herself into a ball and rolled away from the monster's next attempt to sink its teeth into her._

_"Ran!"_

_The warning shout rang in her ears just as she rolled back onto her feet only to find that she had placed herself directly in front of yet another of the wolfish beasts. Then someone had rammed into her and she was falling again, this time away from the monster. Catching herself, she spun back around only to feel her blood run cold in horror. The creature before her had one of its massive paws planted squarely on a blond figure, pinning him to the ground as its long, wickedly sharp claws dug into his side._

_"Saguru!" Panic mixed with anger and she threw herself at the creature, putting everything she could into a punch that literally shattered the beast's stone shoulder even as the bones in her own hand protested the rough treatment._

The hand that rested on her knee clenched into a fist. She closed her eyes, silently promising herself that she would do better next time.

X

The archeologist answered her door on the third knock and blinked in mild surprise to find the two shinobi outside her door.

"Can I help you?" she asked after a moment's pause.

"If you have the time, we were wondering if you could tell us more about this Phoenix Crown you're looking for," Kaito explained.

"Oh, I see." Her face brightened and she stepped back from the door. "Do come in and have a seat."

The archeologist's room had only one bed, since she had no traveling companions, but the inn's decorators had installed a decent sized table into the extra space and furnished it with four, padded chairs. There were several rather thick tomes stacked upon the table and the archeologist's shoulder bag sat open on the bed. Apparently she'd been doing some studying before their arrival.

"So what did you want to know?" she asked once they had all been seated.

"What exactly is the Phoenix Crown?" Shinichi asked. "We've been told it's a set of seven precious stones that are supposed to have power when they are together, but that's about it."

"Not just when they're together actually," the woman corrected. "Legends say that every stone has its own power. They are the stones of Life, Chance, Passion, Knowledge, Change, Power, and Fate. When properly activated, they grant a person control over these aspects. Or at least that's what legends claim. In all my research I have yet to come across anyone who's actually managed to use any of the stones to do anything more than make a lot of money when they sell them, but that's not important. What I find really fascinating is that there have also been claims that these stones bring misfortune down upon any who seek them. Funnily enough, these rumors might actually have some truth to them. My theory is that…"


	8. The Ageless Face

Shinichi woke to Kaito throwing open the windows to let the morning sun flood their room in pale, yellow light. He groaned and turned his face away from the light, trying to go back to sleep. He'd always hated mornings and half a night spent having his ear talked off by an overly enthusiastic archeologist wasn't making him like it any better today.

A hand landed on his shoulder and shook him lightly, accompanied by Kaito's greatly amused voice. "Come on Shinichi. Shouldn't you be checking up on your patients?"

Shinichi cracked open an eye to peer blearily up at the spy. Patients? What was he talking abou—

With a gasp, Shinichi sat bolt upright and made a scramble to get out of bed. His legs got tangled in the covers however and he would have wound up in a rather undignified heap on the floor if it hadn't been for Kaito's quick reflexes. Laughing, the spy lifted him up out of the mess of covers and set him on his feet.

"Slow down," he said with a grin. "They're not going anywhere and a few minutes aren't going to make that big of a difference at this point."

Ten minutes later Shinichi opened the door to the makeshift sick room. Kaito had gone downstairs to get them all some breakfast. He found all four of his patients up and apparently engaged in a conversation about the various discoveries of the previous night. From what he heard as he came in, Ran and Heiji must have been filling the other two in.

"How are you guys feeling?" he asked when they turned to greet him.

"A lot better," Heiji replied and Ran nodded in agreement.

"Glad to be alive," Eisuke muttered, eliciting a snort of laughter from Heiji.

Hakuba just sighed. "It could be worse. As it is, I am actually quite surprised that I can honestly say I only feel a little stiff."

"Man that was the most long winded 'I'm fine' I've ever heard," Heiji laughed. "You sure you didn't hit your head or something?"

The blonde shot him an irritated glare. "Your bedside manner leaves much to be desired."

"And I suppose yours are the picture of perfection," the other scoffed. "I'm not here 'cause I like your sunny personality you know."

"Cut it out you guys," Ran snapped, finally losing her patience. "We should be thanking our lucky stars right now that we're all here and still able to talk, not sniping at each other."

The two subsided into a sullen silence.

"Uh, so…what are we going to do now?" Eisuke asked when it seemed no one was going to say anything. "Are we going back to the ruins today? Or should we go look for this Sharon lady?"

"None of you should be going anywhere at all," Shinichi interjected, frowning. "You all need rest. Why don't any of you ever seem to understand that having your injuries healed doesn't automatically mean you're fighting fit? I've told you all at least a hundred times but then I turn around and—"

"Okay, okay," Heiji cut in, holding up both of his hands in a placating manner. "We get it. How about we just stay here at the inn today and talk to the people who come by—see if we can get any more news, you know."

Ran let out a frustrated sigh. "I guess we could try that. But if the woman really likes to disguise herself as other people, I doubt we're going to hear much."

"I'm sure if she's here we'll find her," said Kaito, making everyone jump. None of them had seen or heard him come in, but there he was. He grinned at them, bowing like a performer who'd just finished a show. "So who's up for breakfast?"

X

Standing outside the post office beneath the noonday sun, Shinichi let out a sigh he'd been holding back for the last hour or so. He and Kaito had taken on the task of searching the town—again, this time for anyone who might be either the Sharon woman or someone in disguise. They had split up to cover more ground, but so far he'd had even less luck than he remembered having the day before. It didn't help that he wasn't nearly as good at talking to people or getting people to talk to him as Kaito was. He was beginning to wonder if he should go back to Hanami's house to see his parents and ask them for a more thorough description, but part of him really didn't want to see them yet.

On the other hand, it wouldn't be right not to go talk to them if it might help them finish this mission faster just because he didn't feel like it. Of course there was always Kaito's _other_ plan, but he'd prefer if they could manage not to come to that.

Well, maybe if he could find Kaito first, then they could go together. He really needed to get over this. It was making it hard to think straight about everything that was happening.

Glancing up and around at the rooftops around him, he spotted a familiar, white bird perched on the awnings of a tea shop. He waved and the bird spread its wings and flew to perch on his outstretched hand. He explained what he had been thinking to it, ignoring the weird looks he was getting from passersby, before raising his arm to help it launch itself back into the sky. He was just settling down to wait when he caught a glimpse of frantic motion out of the corner of his eye. Turning, he saw what appeared to be a little girl darting into the shadow between two buildings farther down the street. He wouldn't have thought anything of it except that his well practiced eyes had caught the bright crimson of fresh blood.

Leaping to his feet, he ran after her.

X

Kaito spotted Shinichi outside the post office the moment he rounded the corner. The medic was sitting with his back to him. He took a moment to observe the scene before approaching on soundless feet.

"Shinichi!" he exclaimed as he leaned down to wrap his arms around the medic's shoulders from behind. "Have you been waiting long?"

"Not really," Shinichi replied, craning his neck around to peer at the spy. With Kaito leaning down on his back he couldn't stand or turn around. "Did you find any—"

He froze as he felt something cold and sharp press against the side of his neck. "K—Kaito! What are you doing?"

Indigo eyes narrowed. "You can drop the act. You didn't honestly think you could fool me, did you? Now tell me what you've done with Shinichi."

There was a moment's pause before the not-Shinichi laughed—though he was careful not to move. "I am impressed, Kuroba Kaito. What gave me away?"

Kaito let out a chuckle of his own. It was not a happy sound. "A lot of things, but I suppose the most obvious would be that you didn't blush. Now talk."

"My, my, aren't you impatient. What makes you think I did anything at all?"

"Oh, I don't know," the spy drawled, kunai blade still rock steady, "maybe the fact that you're here and Shinichi's not?"

"He's really important to you, isn't he?"

"And you're not really an archeologist, are you?"

The imposter stiffened almost imperceptibly. "What?"

"Would you prefer I call you Sharon or Chris?"

There was a long moment of silence before the not-Shinichi responded. "I see. But you're wrong about one thing. I _am_ an archeologist."

"I suppose we all have the right to call ourselves what we wish."

"Hadn't you better let me go now? After all, I'm the only one who knows where your little medic is."

"Why don't you tell me and then I let you go?"

Not-Shinichi laughed in honest amusement. "But if I told you, you'd have no reason to release me."

"And if I release you, you have no reason to tell me, so it seems we are at a bit of a stalemate, doesn't it?"

"Indeed."

"So why don't we alter the odds a bit, hm?"

"What do you propose?"

Smirking, Kaito shifted just enough to show the imposter what he now held in his other hand. It was a small, green stone. Not-Shinichi drew in a sharp breath but made no comment.

"I'll just hang on to this then," the spy announced cheerfully, letting go of the imposter and stepping back. "So was there anything you wanted to say?"

Not-Shinichi stood, took a moment to straighten out his clothes, then turned to glare at him coldly. "The ruins at nightfall." Without another word he turned sharply and walked away.

As he watched the not-Shinichi disappear down the street, Kaito's grim smirk grew into a much more self satisfied grin.

"Perfect."

X

"Shinichi! Shinichi, wake up!"

Brows drawing together at the sound of someone calling his name, Shinichi forced his eyes open to find himself looking up into Ran's worried face. Then he noticed that it was dark, but he couldn't remember night falling. And was that a stone ceiling?

"Ran?" His voice came out rather hoarse. "Where are we?"

"We believe we are somewhere in the Shintako ruins," Hakuba's voice said from somewhere off to the side where Shinichi couldn't see him. "However, none of us saw this chamber last time we were here."

"The ruins…?" Shinichi sat up with some difficulty due to the fact that his hands and feet had been bound at the wrists and ankles and grimaced at the odd texture of the ground under his scrabbling hands. Craning his neck for a better look at the floor, he studied the dark flakes of—"Dried blood!" he exclaimed in horrified realization.

"There's a lot of it," Ran replied grimly, jerking her chin to indicate the chamber at large. "It's old, but not ancient."

"So this is probably where they were killed."

She nodded. "Probably by whoever brought us here."

"How _did_ you end up here?"

"It was one of the inn's staff members," Eisuke piped up from another corner, his glasses glinting faintly (which was interesting, Shinichi mused, it meant there had to be light coming in from somewhere). "He came up to tell us about today's lunch special and ask how we were doing. But when he left—I can't remember what happened exactly, but it had to be some kind of genjutsu. Just something to knock us out. We woke up here and all our weapons and tools are gone."

"But then why isn't Heiji here too?"

Hakuba snorted. "He left for the bathroom just before the culprit arrived."

"But that would mean he didn't care how many of you he got."

"That seems to be the case."

"But what about you?" Ran asked suddenly. "Weren't you searching the town?"

"I was…" Frowning, Shinichi thought back. "I remember seeing a girl run by with blood on her clothes and I followed her to see what I could do to help… But when I turned into the alley there was no one there. I turned around to see if maybe I'd missed her somehow and—and then I was here…"

A pondering silence fell over the chamber as they each fell into their own thoughts. Shinichi took the time to take another, closer look at the room they were in. It had no doors or windows of any kind—or at least none that he could find. What light there was came from a softly glowing moss that clung to the walls and ceiling in patches. These walls were slightly damp, very cold, and definitely solid. If he had to guess, he'd guess that they were under ground, which could explain why the others hadn't seen this room in their last search of the ruins. It also meant that they should avoid doing anything that might damage the walls in case it led to a cave in. There had to be an entrance somewhere though… Of course, if this was _meant_ to be some kind of prison, the entrance might not be accessible from the inside.

Then there was the writing on the walls. Carved deep into the stone so that even time had been unable to wear them all away were columns upon columns of a strange, spiky script. It covered almost every available inch of wall space. Even more had been etched into the floor itself, woven into what appeared to be a series of interlocked circles that had been inlaid with a different, paler stone to make them more visible. Shinichi stared at the carvings for a moment. If only they could read them. It might give them a better understanding of their situation.

"Hey Eisuke," he said slowly as he traced one of the carved runes with his gaze, "your parents work in research, right?"

"Yeah, they do," the bespectacled shinobi replied, sounding puzzled. "Why?"

"I think I've seen writing like this in some of their records. I don't suppose you can read any of it?"

Everyone's attention focused on Eisuke who shuffled onto his knees and turned to the wall nearest him. Peering closely at it, he remained silent for several minutes. Finally he glanced over at them with a half triumphant, half incredulous look on his face.

"I can. Not very well, but I do remember a lot of these marks from when I was reading one of their books."

"Plan B it is then," Shinichi murmured, more to himself than to his companions.

Ran eyed him curiously. "What was that?"

Letting out a sigh, he cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.


	9. The Crown

"They're gone!" was the first thing Kaito heard the moment he stepped into the inn's common room. A moment later he was being shaken by a rather wild-eyed Hattori Heiji. "I've scoured this place from top to bottom and they're _gone_! I can't find them anywhere!"

"Calm down," Kaito ordered, holding up a hand to quell the onslaught of worried ranting. "You're scaring the other patrons with this rather convincing rendition of a madman."

"A mad—I _am not_!"

Raising his eyebrows at the vehement denial, Kaito glanced pointedly around at the many people staring at the swordsman. The innkeeper looked very much like he wanted nothing more than to throw them out except that he didn't want to have to be the one to approach them.

Hattori followed his look and flushed in embarrassment. Scratching at the back of his head, he waved sheepishly at the onlookers, pasting a grin onto his face that only seemed to make them more nervous. Kaito smirked and might have let him revel in his horror a little longer if they weren't pressed for time.

"Don't mind him," he told the innkeeper. "He can be a little strange sometimes. You know," his voice lowered into a conspiratorial whisper as he leaned in closer to the anxious man. "Not entirely there upstairs and all. But don't worry, he's harmless."

Hattori spluttered in increased indignation which might have led to an explosion of his notorious temper, but Kaito had already whisked them upstairs to the now deserted sick room.

"So I take it by 'they' you were referring to Ran and the others?" Kaito inquired, wandering over to inspect the window. There were no signs of forced entry and none of the mess that would have resulted from some kind of struggle.

"I was gone for like ten minutes and I come back and they're just _gone_!" Switching back into panic mode, Hattori began to pace up and down the length of the room. "What's more, no one saw them leave! Come to think of it, where's Shinichi? Wasn't he with you?"

The spy's gaze grew serious as he gestured for Hattori to take a seat. "Here's what's going on."

Hattori listened in silence, the scowl on his face growing darker and darker with every passing second. It was clear he wanted nothing more than to go charging down the hall to the archeologist's room, break down the door, and just get the problem over with by cutting it off at its source. The only reason he hadn't was that there was no guarantee the woman would be there. And there was the matter of their missing companions. He'd bet his sword that they had been put somewhere in the ruins—but he wouldn't bet their lives on it, and that was what really mattered.

"But how do you know she'll come to meet us?" he asked finally. "I mean, she could just run."

The spy smirked, holding up three, spherical stones between his fingers. "If she ran now she wouldn't get these back."

Hattori looked at them blankly for a moment before it clicked. "Are those…?"

"Yep. Not sure which of the seven they are, but we don't really need to know that. I, ah, liberated them from our archeologist friend earlier. She knows I have one, but I suspect she's discovered the other missing stones by now too."

"They don't look all that special."

The spy chuckled. "That's probably a matter of opinion."

"Yeah, well…" Hattori looked down, instinctively tracing the hilt of his sword. "Uh, I don't mean to sound pessimistic and all, but how do we even know they're still alive?"

Kaito lost his grin as he flicked his wrist and the three stones disappeared. "Because I believe she wanted us here for a reason."

"Did you know this was going to happen?" the swordsman demanded, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. Does it matter?" Casting another look out the window, Kaito headed for the door. "Better hurry if you don't want to be left behind."

X

A soft grinding sound filled the air as one wall of the underground chamber slid downward. A crack opened between the top of the wall and the ceiling, growing wider and wider until it came to an abrupt stop. A figure clad in dark clothes slid through the opening and landed cat-like on the chamber floor. A small lantern burst to life, revealing the newcomer to be a woman with pale, blond hair. She took a quick look around at the room's four occupants, noting that most of them were still slumped on the floor where she had left them.

All but one anyway.

"It won't work, you know."

The woman glanced into Shinichi's corner, her gaze meeting his for a moment before she smiled in amusement and placed her lantern on the floor. Reaching into her slightly oversized bag, she pulled out something that sparkled in the faint light of her lantern.

It was a bird wrought in gold. Its head was thrown back in a silent cry of defiance as its wings flapped, raising it from amidst a swirl of flames.

"You took that from inside the statue in the altar room."

"Indeed I did," she agreed, smiling faintly as she placed the glittering, gold statuette on the floor in the center of the room with a soft clink. The instant it touched the floor the patterns of paler stone that had been built into the floor began to glow faintly. The chamber filled with an almost ghostly, white light. The woman straightened, smiling to herself, eyes fixed as though entranced upon the phoenix statue which almost seemed to be getting bigger.

Shinichi shuddered slightly. There was something stirring in the air—a sensation of something great waking. And suddenly what he had thought to be a ridiculous myth about an impossible artifact didn't seem so impossible anymore. But it was better not to think about that right now. He had other things he needed to focus on. Like how he could see Ran carefully shifting to place her back against the wall beneath the entrance.

"Why did you kill them?" he asked, drawing the woman's attention back to him.

The look she gave him now was definitely amused. "That's a rather silly question. Why would I let them live? They were too weak." She paused, considering, then laughed quietly to herself. "Besides, I needed them gone so that Konoha would send me some more suitable spirits."

"So you wanted them to keep sending people here until you found sacrifices you liked?"

"There's no need to sound so disgusted." Producing a handful of glittering stones, she slipped a fiery red jewel into the first of the empty holders molded into the phoenix statue's base. It flashed and began to glow as red light flowed up and over the bird to drip from its wings as though it had gained a row of crimson feathers. Or like there was a crimson bird expanding from within the statuette, growing larger and more substantial with each pulse of light. "It is all a matter of strategy after all. I'm sure you understand."

"And using my father's identity? What strategy was that?"

"Well, since your parents wouldn't join me, I thought it would be amusing if their son was here instead."

"I see."

"Besides, I knew that if you came, that lover of yours would too. Any other team and I would have been one short. Seven mortal souls for one immortal flame."

Blue eyes narrowed slightly. "You've miscalculated if you wanted seven souls."

"No I haven't. Once your remaining teammates arrive I'll be ready."

"That's still only six," he pointed out, wishing the conversation was over already. This woman was crazy. But Ran was only halfway up the wall. Not, he supposed, that she could go much faster than that since they hadn't been able to untie themselves in time and she had to inch along with her palms and the bottoms of her feet. "Or did you have someone else trapped down here already?"

"You misunderstand me. The seventh soul will be mine, of course."

"W—what?"

"Oh come now, don't pretend you can't hear me."

"But the scripts say the crown will consume seven mortal souls—consume, as in destroy," Eisuke exclaimed.

"Ah, so you were awake as well." Eisuke winced as he realized he'd spoken aloud when he was supposed to be out cold, but the archeologist didn't bother turning to look at him and he breathed a soundless sigh of relief. "You can read the writing, can you? Well then, you should know too then that _those from which the phoenix flame is born shall be forever a part of the crown itself_. Call it…a form of immortality, I suppose."

Shinichi scowled. "Why are you doing this?"

"Why?" The woman turned the word over in her mouth then laughed in honest amusement. "Why not?"

"Do you have any idea just how many people you'll be sentencing to death if this really works?"

"What would I care about that? This world is such a boring place. Haven't you ever noticed how only stories are ever grand anymore? Just for once I want to witness something truly great." She turned her gaze back to him, a strange smile playing around her lips. "You should be thanking me. Because of me, you get front row seats to the greatest show of the century."

He stared back at her. "You're mad."

She only laughed. "Maybe I am, but I'm the one standing here and you know, I rather think that's more important."

X

Ran would have let out a sigh of relief or maybe a quiet cheer of triumph if she didn't know that would be counterproductive for their situation. She had finally risen over the top edge of the stone wall. The climb had been excruciatingly slow and tiring, only able to shuffle as she concentrated her chakra to make her palms and feet adhere to the stone, but she didn't have the luxury of a few minutes of rest. Twisting until she was on her hands and knees, she shuffled to the nearest wall and used it to help herself onto her feet as her eyes scanned the room. There! One of the broken statues had a nice, jagged piece of stone sticking out of it at just the right height. Hopping towards it on her bound feet, she turned her back and began working at cutting her hands free. Her heart raced as the voices below continued to speak and the eerie lights danced over the stone.

Was the light getting brighter? What did that mean? Or was she just imagining things? She didn't like what she could hear of the conversation. Not at all. This woman was clearly out of her mind—albeit in a rather logical way which made it all the more chilling to listen to her speak.

The ropes gave finally and she slipped the now tattered bindings from her slightly raw wrists. She dropped immediately to set to work undoing the bonds on her feet. The work went much faster with the use of her fingers and she had them off in a matter of moments.

Smiling in satisfaction, she straightened—only to discover that she was no longer alone.

She hadn't heard them approach. Hadn't even felt their presence! But there before her stood two of the twin-headed stone wolves she remembered all too well. Four jaws gaped open in silent anticipation, their long fangs gleaming ivory in the lights from below.

Slowly, Ran shifted herself into a defensive stance, cursing mentally at the turn of events. Last time they had fought these things they had escaped by the skin of their teeth.

Well, she didn't have to beat them, she reminded herself. There were two things she had to do. One, she had to send up some kind of signal. According to Shinichi, he and Kaito had suspected something like this might happen (she kind of wished they'd said something earlier, but she supposed somewhere deep down she'd kind of suspected it too). After all, if they had indeed been lured here, then eventually the one responsible would come to them without them having to go looking (though naturally it was preferable to do the finding rather than be found). As it was, their adversary's power would lie in her knowledge of each of their whereabouts, so if they could eliminate that hold of hers than the others would be able to act much more easily.

Her second task, of course, was to free her companions, but it was better to take things one step at a time.

She jumped. They lunged, teeth snapping at the air where she'd been just milliseconds after she vacated it. Her palms connected with rough, stone hide and she flipped over one monster's shoulder to land on its back. It froze for a moment, obviously thrown off by having its prey now perched on its back, and Ran took that moment to propel herself upward. She shot through the now much smaller space between herself and the ceiling, focusing on gathering power in her hands and pinpointing a section of the ceiling that was cracked and leaking orange sunlight. Fragments of stone showered down on wolfish heads.

Catching the lip of the hole she'd made, she pulled herself up just in time to avoid losing a leg to another toothy snap. Perched there on the sloping, ruin roof, she fumbled through her supplies. Her weapons had been taken away, but it seemed they'd lucked out and she still had a flare. It was a relatively new kind that Shinichi's friend Shiho had come out with that resembled a glass marble. Breathing over the marble made it light up like a small sun for maybe a minute and a half (she had no idea why, but Shiho's idea of an explanation had been more confusing than edifying).

It was like a star had alighted on the roof of the ruins beneath the darkening sky.

Ran wedged the shining marble in a crack in the stones as she heard the growling grow near again. She turned and had to stare as one of the beasts leaped straight through the stone roof without breaking it. Kind of a fish leaping out of the water. She'd almost forgotten that they were able to meld into and out of the stone and it was not a good way to be reminded.

It advanced and she backed away from it one slow step at a time. A second set of growls informed her that its companion had also joined them on the roof but she didn't dare take her eyes off the first beast to look. She knew instinctively that if she looked away it would attack.

Her thoughts tumbled through her mind as the wolves edged closer. What could she do? Last time they had fought these things they'd barely been able to scratch them. She'd broken most of the bones in her hand to defeat just one of them—and that had been with the added strength of anger and sheer desperation. On the other hand, that meant she knew they weren't invulnerable.

Bracing her feet, she shifted into a more offensive stance, but before she could do anything more than that something silvery flew over her head to fall over the closer of the stone beasts. It resolved itself into some kind of net that clung to the surfaces it touched. The creature hissed and lashed out but the movement only served to further entangle it even as a second net fell over its companion. Before either beast could do much more than howl their annoyance, a woman with long, dark brown hair landed lightly on the roof not too far from them with another set of projectiles. The thin, white slips looked like paper bombs to Ran, but the writing on the tags didn't look quite right.

There was a flash and a crack and the beasts snarled as the paper tags exploded much more violently than Ran had ever seen any paper bomb do. Stone shattered and crumbled in the wake of the explosions. In moments, there was nothing left of the stone wolves but dissolving piles of rubble.

"Ha! Take that you beasts!" the woman exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air before turning a beaming smile in Ran's direction. "Oh, it's Mouri Ran, isn't it? How're you feeling?"


	10. The Phoenix

Shinichi couldn't tear his eyes away from the gold statuette. The air in the chamber was thick with rising power and it was growing harder and harder to breathe as the world itself seemed to press down and in all around him, but none of that was registering as more than a minor annoyance in comparison to the spectacle growing before his eyes. The archeologist had inserted three more colored stones into their respective holders and with each addition the light in the chamber had shifted and pulsed like the beating of a heart.

And a heart it was, he thought. With each wave of light the air flexed and the phantom shape of the phoenix grew larger. Translucent orange and yellow flames danced along crimson feathers, picking out the fineness of those ghostly feathers until they looked real enough to touch. Light blue flames washed across the floor and up the walls, cool to the touch and yet full of some strange, tingling energy that made a person want to pull away like they'd been burned. Forced as he was to sit in its midst with Hakuba and Eisuke, Shinichi felt like he was drowning without water.

He had no idea if those were stars dancing before his eyes or the sparks dripping from the phantom bird's wings.

What really worried him though was the way the archeologist seemed to be fading into the light. He'd thought at first that it was the lack of oxygen causing him to see things, but the longer he looked at her the more he was sure. Standing in the central circle with the statuette, her entire body was wrapped in the pulsing light. The edges of her form seemed to literally have become a part of the light, but even more than that it was as though she herself had been lit from within. It no longer looked to him like she was standing in the room with them. Instead she looked like what one might think of if one tried to picture the opposite of a shadow.

The woman herself hadn't seemed to notice though. Or maybe she had and just didn't care. She was staring down at the glowing statue with the rapt eyes of the mesmerized.

Shinichi felt the sudden desire to throw himself at statue and woman and knock them apart—to scatter the stones and burry the golden bird relief where it would never again see the light of day.

"Uh…hello?" Shinichi asked a bit tentatively, watching the woman's transfixed expression for any signs that she'd heard him. There were none.

"What's happening?" Eisuke asked in a small voice that sounded like it was coming from the other end of a very long tunnel despite their not being all that far apart. "It's like she's frozen."

Hakuba shifted uncomfortably in his place, glancing up at the chamber entrance for any sign of Ran. Finding nothing, he turned his gaze back to the woman standing in the center of the room along with the rest of his present teammates. He was starting to feel lightheaded.

"Hey!" Eisuke shouted abruptly, trying to jar some kind of reaction out of the unmoving woman.

Still nothing.

Shinichi was seriously debating trying to get on his feet and hop over there to do what he really wanted to and knock over that statue when something metallic flashed through the air.

Faster than a striking snake, Sharon turned. Light like feathers swirled around her, tongues of it snapping up to wrap around what turned out to be a shuriken. It hung motionless for an instant before dropping to splatter in steaming, metallic splotches on the stone.

Shinichi tore his eyes away from the molten metal to see a familiar figure perched on the lip of the chamber entrance. His momentary relief however was eclipsed by the realization that the archeologist was no longer motionless. Indeed, her face had contorted into a mask of anger and the phantom phoenix was growing brighter. No longer hovering over the statue, it burned in the air around the woman herself like a living shroud.

"You!" The woman's voice crackled and snapped like fire, holding barely a trace of the voice she had had before. "You have my stones."

"That I do," Kaito said lightly, apparently unperturbed by the strange sight before him (Shinichi knew better. He could see the tension in the spy's shoulders even from here). Raising a hand, he displayed three stones: one green, one purple, one clear. The moment he held them up however they burst into light. Startled, he closed his fingers over the stones and felt them grow hot as they strained against his hold like living things struggling to fly towards their brethren. "What—"

A hand closed over his shoulder suddenly, pulling him back and away from the drop into the ritual chamber. "Go!" the man attached to the arm shouted, stepping past him. Kaito caught a glimpse of orange light reflected in a pair of glasses. "You have to get those as far away from here as you can! Don't come back until the light fades!"

Kaito stared at the man for a moment but he could feel the stones beginning to burn like coals in his grip as they fought to free themselves. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he spun and bolted out of the ruins. Part of him was screaming at him that he was going the wrong way. Shinichi was back there in the middle of that eerie scene with the mad woman and the phantom bird of flames. Shinichi who he would not— _could_ not—lose. But his instincts were telling him that the newcomer was right. He had to get the stones away from there.

Even as he ran he could feel a presence behind him. It was a terrible, burning presence and it was hungry.

X

Shinichi had no idea what he was seeing anymore. The air all around him was ablaze with flickering lights. The center of the room was a storm of it and the phoenix…

The phoenix of light and shadows had spread its wings and shot out of the room the instant Kaito had disappeared from sight and Shinichi had the horrible suspicion that he knew where it was going. It had left behind it a woman who now resembled not so much a human as a luminous ghost of a person whose eyes burned white.

She had made a move to follow the bird but someone else had gotten in her way.

A someone Shinichi recognized even if Hakuba and Eisuke were looking confused.

The temperature in the room shot up and suddenly the dancing flames felt a lot less ethereal and a lot more real.

"Get out of my way, Mortal!" the archeologist hissed.

"I can't do that," Kudo Yuusaku replied, voice steady as he stared hard at the woman before him. "Four fragments, Sharon. Are you so lost now that you would lose yourself so easily and let a mere half a soul control you?"

"No one is controlling me!" she snapped, taking a menacing step forward. "For once in my life I've found something worth creating. You will _not_ get in my way!"

With the woman's attention focused entirely on the new arrival, Shinichi shifted and swung his bound feet towards one of the many flames licking across the floor. It caught at the bindings and they began to burn merrily. As they devoured the rope he shifted quickly to do the same with the ties on his wrists, gritting his teeth as the flames grew too close to his skin for comfort. Once he was free he hurriedly patted out the flames trying to take root in his clothes.

Scrambling to his feet, he made a lunge for the statue just as the archeologist threw herself at his father with her hands held up like talons.

The medic snatched the statue from the floor and nearly dropped it again as his fingers came in contact with the searing metal. Jaw clenched, he tugged at the glowing stones set into the base. They seemed to have melted into the metal and for a moment he thought it wasn't going to work, but then the stone beneath his fingers came away with a sudden clink and its glow dimmed.

"Shinichi!"

The warning came a moment too late as something struck the medic from behind, sending him sprawling across the floor. The statue shot from his hands and rolled towards the wall.

"You dare—!" a voice like fire hissed into his ear only to cut off with an outraged shriek. Through the flames all around him Shinichi could see Hakuba jerking two more of the stones from the statue's base before a blast of red light threw him back into another wall.

Sharon appeared in his line of vision then, snatching the statue from the floor and cradling it against her like a mother would a child. Satisfied that the statue was all right, she stepped towards the stones Hakuba had dropped but Eisuke threw himself over them before she could grab them. She snarled and made to kick him.

She was intercepted by Yuusaku who had snuck up behind her and ripped the statue from her grasp. A moment later the last stone was pulled from it and thrown across the room.

For an instant everything froze.

Then the aurora of lights that had been swirling through the chamber gave a final pulse and rushed inward. It was like a tide receding. All the light and the fire spiraled in upon the glowing archeologist who let out a small, almost surprised gasp. She grew brighter and Shinichi had to shield his eyes as there was a final burst of radiance. When he could see again, the chamber was dark once more but for the dim light of a setting sun seeping in from above.

The archeologist was gone.

Kudo Yuusaku dropped the now lifeless phoenix statue with a sigh and turned to face the room's three remaining occupants.

"Are you three all right?"

X

For years to come the people of Shintako would tell stories of the day when they saw a young man run over the very waters of the lake followed by a massive bird whose flaming wings burned gold against the evening sky.

For his part Kaito couldn't say how much of a tall tale the story was because he hadn't seen the bird. He'd been too busy running faster than he'd ever run in his life because he knew that the moment he slowed down whatever was following him would consume him and take the stones burning their shapes into his palm.

It wasn't until the overwhelming presence faded from his senses and the stones cooled in his grasp that he dared slow his pace. By then he was far into the countryside and Shintako was entirely out of sight. Tired but unwilling to rest just yet he made his way back the way he'd come, noting the scorch marks that adorned the ground every few steps along his path.

He reached the ruins just as the sun vanished beneath the horizon. There he found Hattori helping a shaky Ran down from the roof followed by a familiar woman with dark brown hair.

"Oh, are you all right?" she asked when she caught sight of him.

He nodded. "And you?"

He got a nod from Hattori, a smile from Ran, and an incongruously chipper 'yep' from Kudo Yukiko.

Hattori joined him as he made his way back into the ruin's altar chamber where the new hole in the ceiling cast dim, gray light over the people below. Shinichi's face lit up with relief as he caught sight of Kaito and the spy felt an answering smile tugging at his lips.

"Where's Ran?" Hakuba demanded before any of them could say anything though.

"She's outside with Miss Yukiko," Hattori replied before he glanced around again in search of something. "So where'd that archeologist go? Did she get away?"

"She's gone," Yuusaku said quietly, tone solemn as he adjusted his glasses. Their lenses glinted with the motion. "Without the ritual to channel it, all that built up power backlashed and consumed her. Or her body at any rate. I believe the phoenix had already consumed most of her mind."

Shinichi frowned at his father. "What do you mean?"

The man let out a sigh of his own. "We should return to town for now. We could all use the rest. Come to Hanami's tomorrow and we'll talk."

Shinichi didn't particularly like the idea of having to wait, but he could see the sense in the suggestion and the weariness in everyone's faces so he relented and let Kaito help him up. He frowned slightly at the way the spy was moving. He was definitely favoring his left hand.

Stopping in his tracks, he tugged on the spy's sleeve. "Show me."

Kaito gave him a questioning look.

"Your hand," he clarified, gesturing impatiently.

"It's just a burn," the spy said by way of explanation as he held out the appointed hand. The medic inspected it, the corners of his mouth twisted down. 'Just' wasn't quite the word he would have used for it. It looked like the spy had been trying to hold fire. It had to be painful, no matter what Kaito said.

"Don't move it," he instructed.

Kaito considered pointing out that they were being left behind, but decided against it and let Shinichi work. This kind of injury was something the medic could handle fairly easily anyway, and, well…it felt like ages since they'd last had a moment to themselves. The others could do without them for a few more minutes.


	11. Farewells

The morning after a battle always felt surreal, Shinichi reflected. Almost as though the world itself couldn't believe that all was well. Or maybe it was just the world's way of reminding the petty humans who dwelled within it that they were small creatures by showing them just how little their squabbles marked it in the long run.

Well, whatever else it was, it was peaceful.

"I wish we could just stay here for a while," he sighed.

The arms around him tightened slightly as Kaito chuckled. "Me too."

They had both woken unexpectedly early, their nerves still high strung from the events of the previous day. So they had lain curled up together and simply watched the sun rise through the window of their room.

"It's kind of hard to believe it's only been four days isn't it?" the spy remarked into the comfortable silence.

"Feels more like four years," Shinichi agreed, his breath rushing out of him in a heartfelt sigh. "I can't wait to be home."

"We can't leave just yet," Kaito reminded him.

Noticing the rather odd note in the spy's tone, Shinichi craned his neck around to peer at the man behind him. "What's bothering you?"

The spy blinked then laughed. "There are times when I rather think you know me a little too well."

"You're not answering the question."

Kaito was silent for a long moment. "You know, I promised Mom we'd both come home in one piece."

"And we will," Shinichi agreed, wondering what that had to do with anything. After all, the worst of the storm was already over so there wasn't any reason to think they might not make it home.

Kaito hummed, burying his nose in the hair on the back of Shinichi's head. "Good."

More confused than ever, Shinichi watched a hawk soar past in the empty sky. Kaito might think he knew him too well, but there were still times when Shinichi couldn't even begin to fathom what was going through his partner's head.

X

Hanami welcomed them into her home when she saw them. Apparently she'd been forewarned of their arrival and made tea. The elder Kudos were already seated in the small living room. Everyone thanked the widow as she poured them tea before excusing herself. Shinichi noted that she seemed much livelier than she had the last time they'd seen her.

Ran cleared her throat and all eyes turned to her. Quickly, she introduced everyone to get the formalities over with and bring everyone up to the same speed in regards to their unexpected helpers from the night before.

"You talked about the phoenix yesterday like it was a living entity," Shinichi stated the moment Ran was finished. "Why?"

"I suppose that's as good a place to start as any." Yuusaku picked up his cup of tea and took a sip from it, watching the rest of them with an pondering gaze. "You see, that legend we told you about last time you were here?" He waited for their nods before he continued. "Well, that was the story most people hear and that was the legend Sharon believed. But in our research Yukiko and I found an even older story. One that people did not like so much and therefore chose to ignore."

"Does it have something to do with that writing in the ritual chamber about needing mortal souls to mend the immortal's power?"

Both Kudos shot Eisuke surprised looks before Yukiko nodded. "That's the one. I didn't realize you were able to read that. Anyway, the more common legend interpreted that to mean that you needed seven sacrifices to activate the power of the crown, but the truth turns out to be much more straight forward than that." She paused, a faraway look coming into her eyes. "A long time ago there was a creature with immense power. It was said to be able to destroy and remake the world—the power promised in the legend to those who complete the Crown in fact. But there were people who feared that power—feared and desired it. In an attempt to claim that power, they captured it, but like the phoenix of myth which it was said to resemble the being was immortal and its power too great. The battle raged for seven years before it finally ended. Well, that part might be an exaggeration," Yukiko added as an afterthought. "But anyway, in the end everyone involved had lost their lives and the phoenix itself, terribly wounded, was unable to escape the last assault of a powerful sorcerer. Though unable to die, its power was fragmented along with its spirit and its body withered away until it was nothing more than a statue."

"In the centuries since, stories spread, saying that whoever could put the pieces of the phoenix's shattered powers together would be granted control over them," Yuusaku continued. "But what most stories forgot was that the phoenix itself dwells within those powers. However that was why the artifact was called a Crown to begin with. It was the phoenix's mind as well as its power, carrying with it any living being's desire to live. So great was its power however that no one mortal body could hold much of it long enough for it to put itself back together. To do that, it would need far more life energy than a single human could give it. That is why no one who has ever tried to piece the crown together has survived very long. They were burned away from the inside out by the phoenix's spirit before they could collect all its pieces, and without all the pieces it simply fell apart again."

It was a mark of just how strange the other night's events had been, Shinichi mused, that none of them doubted the story for a moment. They had seen too much with their own eyes not to believe that it was at least partially true.

"So what you're saying is that everything that's happened came from that—that creature's desire to live again," Hakuba stated, grimacing slightly at the thought and the memory of the archeologist's burning, white eyes.

Yukiko nodded, a hint of sorrow creeping into her eyes. "It calls out to people."

But then what do we do with the stones now?" Ran asked, worry drawing a line between her brows. "Can they be destroyed?"

"Probably not," Yuusaku replied regretfully. "However, we can dispose of the pieces where they will most likely remain lost."

"Like down a volcano," Hattori muttered.

The corner of the older man's mouth quirked up. "That may indeed be a good home for at least one stone."

The next few hours were spent mapping out what should be done with each of the seven stones and the gold statuette which was the heart of the Crown. The elder Kudos had apparently already done some extensive research into the matter and they promised to handle most of the leg work. By the time the session was over it was already after noon.

"Will you be heading back to Konoha then?" Yukiko asked as the six stood up to leave.

"We'll probably leave tomorrow morning," Ran replied with a tired sigh. "I'm sure we could all use a bit more rest."

"Oh good," Hattori said, brightening. "I'll be back in a few then. I need to get one of those woven tea cozies for Kazuha. She said the patterns from this town are famous. If I don't bring her one she'll take my head off."

Shinichi and Kaito hung back as the others trooped down the street towards the town market. Turning back to face his parents, Shinichi found them both watching him.

"Are you coming with us?" he asked a bit hesitantly. He wasn't particularly surprised when they shook their heads.

"It's been too long," his father replied. "Our place is on the roads now."

"But we promise we'll try harder to write this time," Yukiko declared, pulling Shinichi into a hug. He let her this time and found that it wasn't as awkward as he'd thought it would be. There was something familiar in that embrace.

Kaito started in surprise when the woman turned and hugged him too. "I'm sorry we couldn't have met under better circumstances," she murmured, her voice growing more serious as she stepped back. "Take care you two."

"And have a safe journey," Yuusaku added.

"We will," Shinichi promised.

Beside him, Kaito held each of the elder Kudos' gazes for a long moment before he nodded. "You too. And we'll hold you to that promise about writing," he added, lips quirking up at the corners as his tone grew lighter. "I am afraid that as a gatherer of information I am not in the habit of losing track of those I have met." And if Shinichi wanted to hear from them then he was damned well going to make sure the two wrote.

Yuusaku chuckled lightly. "Indeed. That explains a great deal."

As they walked away, Shinichi could feel his parents eyes on them and he held onto Kaito's hand, a strange feeling in his chest. On the one hand he had the feeling that he probably wouldn't be seeing them again, and it sent a pang through him to think that, and yet at the same time he wasn't nearly as upset as he might have thought. Maybe it was because they'd already been away for so long that he'd just gotten used to the idea of them not being there. But no… That might be part of it, but this meeting had given him something he hadn't had before—a sense of closure and a taste of understanding. He still couldn't say he understood what they were thinking, but he knew at least that they hadn't forgotten him and that, in their own way, they still cared.

And he knew they were alive.

In a way, that was enough.

"Are you all right?" Kaito asked, squeezing his hand lightly.

Shinichi glanced up at him and smiled. "I'm fine." And it was true, he mused. More so than it had been in days.

The spy smiled back. "Good. So what do you say we go try that watermelon Sundae?"


End file.
